The Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Department of Corrections released water testing data for Stillwater prison, after protesters and family members of offenders at Stillwater prison expressed concerns about drinking water safety Sunday following an eight-hour protest by inmates Sunday who refused to go back to their cells.

At a Tuesday news conference, Marvina Haynes, whose brother is an offender at Stillwater prison, said more tests needed to be done to make sure the water in individual cells was specifically tested for contamination.

“Why should those inmates live in inhumane conditions? Why should they not have access to clean water?” said Haynes.  “We’re calling on Minnesota Corrections Commissioner, Paul Schnell, to do his job and fix this water crisis at Stillwater prison.”

Data released by MDH showed that in 2021 and 2022, water tests did not find any violations and a separate test for PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals”, also came up negative in December 2022.  Additionally, data from a third-party lab hired by DOC showed that E. coli was “absent” from their tests as recently as July of this year.

Haynes said families of inmates and activists are not convinced those tests were specific enough.

“I ask again is that water tested directly from those inmates’ cells?  We want an independent investigation to test the water right from the cells,” said Haynes.

Sunday, during a news conference following the prisoner protest at Stillwater prison, Commissioner Schnell said he was confident the drinking water was safe at Stillwater prison.

“Issues around water, there’s not a factual basis for that. The water’s been tested here and there has never been found any issues with the water whatsoever,” said Schnell.

The DOC said it is also retesting the water as an extra precaution, but did not give a timeline for completion of those tests.