The State Grand Jury has issued its report on the April 30 explosion at the Escambia County Central Booking & Detention Center that killed two prisoners and paralyzed a corrections officer. The jury returned a No True Bill finding because of insufficient evidence to establish criminal charges.
Six recommendations were made:
1) The jail should be returned to the supervision of the Escambia County Sheriff.
2) No future jail should be built on the site of the old CBD.
3) Safety officers should be designated for each shift. Better policies and procedures are needed to deal with emergency situations.
4) After 2012 floods, the CBD should not have been rebuilt on the same site. The grand jury asked for the county to give full disclosure as how that decision was made.
5) County needs to review its storm water control measures and concentrate on county-owned facilities first.
6) Pensacola Energy should relocate its cut-off valves outside of flood prone areas.
The jury report stated the gas odor in the CBD in the days prior to the explosion were not propane, as the county has repeatedly claimed, but was natural gas.
“In fact, the propane tanks were not in use and were not actively connected to the building,” said the grand jury. “Readings taken of the tanks show the same level of propane both before and after the flood. The propane tanks were in no way responsible for the odor of the gas within the building.”
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