A rolling hearse rides by Route 15 and the U.S. Penitentiaries at Allenwood and Lewisburg in Union County.

Billboards line the highway between Williamsport and Lewisburg admonishing the Federal Bureau of Prisons for eliminating corrections officers and placing those who remain at a higher risk of attack, said Shane Fausey, president of Local 4047, the union representing the corrections officers.

Recently, the Bureau of Prisons eliminated 182 positions at these two penitentiaries and 6,000 jobs across the nation, he said. The bureau operates 11 prisons in Pennsylvania, and three of these are high security facilities. The prisons in Allenwood, Lewisburg and Canaan house offenders who have proven to be extremely violent, Fausey said.

“They are setting the stage for the perfect storm,” he said adding he’s never seen a poorer decision at this time from higher-ups in the Justice Department.

Since 2005, the bureau lost 20 percent of corrections officers positions, Fausey said.

Following the brutal death in the line of duty of Eric Williams at Canaan in 2013, Fausey joined forces with the guard’s father, Donald, and took a lead role in Voice of Joe, an advocacy group for the families of corrections workers.

Fausey said he and others in the group are interested to see whether a hearing can be arranged before House Judiciary.

“Alarmed,” said U.S. Rep. Tom Marino, R-Cogan Station, of the elimination of these jobs.

Fausey said Marino has promised to reschedule a hearing before Bureau of Prisons Director Mark S. Inch.

The hearing has bipartisan support from U.S. Sens. Bob Casey, D-Scranton and Pat Toomey, R-Zionsville and U.S. Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Howard.

The reduction in prison staff is occurring across the board, with 6,000 positions reduced across the nation, Fausey said. The reductions place guards, staff and other inmates at risk, he said.

During a recent tour of penitentiaries by the judiciary committee members, Marino said he saw inmates having to be kept in lion cages because of the danger they posed to guards and other inmates.

“These dangerous staffing levels that contribute to incidents of violence are unacceptable,” Marino said. “If these guys didn’t do this job who will do it?”