A mailroom supervisor at the federal prison in Atwater died Friday after being exposed to mail filled with an unknown substance. Another worker was also infected and hospitalized but was released after observation.
Investigators are examining whether the substance was fentanyl, according to the Associated Press.
Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Kristy Breshears, director of communications, confirmed the investigation is ongoing but declined to provide specific details.
The jail in Merced County has temporarily suspended visitations.
Atwater is a maximum security federal prison for men. It also includes a minimum security satellite camp. According to information on the prison website, there are 1,225 inmates in the prison, including 1,086 inmates in prisons and 139 inmates in labor camps.
Mailroom supervisor Mark Fisher “began to feel ill” after being exposed to the mail, according to Brashears. “Despite the swift response of local emergency medical services, the employee was tragically pronounced dead upon arrival at a local hospital.”
Researchers say brief exposure to fentanyl does not lead to overdose, and the risk of death from accidental exposure is low.
Fisher’s death comes as the Bureau of Prisons, which oversees 122 federal prisons across the country, is under scrutiny for a series of crises including sexual abuse and other criminal misconduct by staff, inmate escapes and several high-profile deaths.
In 2019, the bureau began photocopying mail coming into prisons instead of delivering original packages to inmates in an attempt to crack down on synthetic drug smuggling, according to the Associated Press.
In 2023, legislation would require the head of the agency to develop a strategy to prevent fentanyl and other synthetic drugs from being sent through the mail to federal prisons.
The bill has stalled in the House.
“With heavy hearts, we extend our deepest condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the deceased bureau employee,” Brashears said in a statement.
Calls to the jail went unanswered.
