By Michele Steinbacher
PONTIAC — State prison officials remained quiet Friday about why a hazardous-materials team from Bloomington was called to Pontiac Correctional Center.
“It’s an ongoing investigation,” said Sharyn Elman, a Chicago-based Illinois Department of Corrections spokeswoman. She declined further comment other than reiterating what she’d said Thursday, including that no one was injured and “the safety of our staff and inmates, and the public, is paramount.”
The Pantagraph will seek further information by filing a request under the Freedom of Information Act.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency did not receive any report on the incident, so whatever occurred likely didn’t reach the level of required reporting, according to Maggie Carson, IEPA spokeswoman.
The Pontiac Fire Department, assisted by Bloomington Fire Department’s hazardous-materials response team, spent two hours at the 1,650-inmate, maximum-security men’s prison Thursday afternoon.
A decontamination tent was set up in the parking lot near the main gate at Vermillion and Lincoln streets during the incident.
Officials declined to say where on the prison grounds the incident occurred.
Firefighters referred all questions to the DOC.
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