‘Desperately need this.’ Proposed Eastern Kentucky prison closer to reality after review
A proposed federal prison in Eastern Kentucky that two presidents have tried to kill is one step closer to reality with the completion of an environmental assessment.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons released the final environmental impact statement on the proposed medium-security prison in Letcher County on Wednesday.
The assessment said the potential impact on the environment would not bar construction of the prison. The construction plan would include measures to “avoid, minimize, or mitigate environmental impacts to the extent practicable,” the agency said.
Of the three options considered in the assessment — building at two different sites in the county or not building a prison at all — the agency chose an option that would allow development of a prison at Roxana.
“We are moving forward in Letcher County!” U.S. Rep Hal Rogers, a strong backer of the project, said in a statement. “I was thrilled to see the positive environmental impact statement from the Bureau of Prisons, confirming they are proceeding with plans to build a safe, modernized prison and create hundreds of jobs in East Kentucky.”
Supporters and opponents of the proposed prison will have another chance to comment on the project. The release of the assessment sets up a 30-day public comment period, from July 12 to August 12.
There are three ways to submit comments, according to a release from the agency:
- By mail or other delivery service to Kimberly S. Hudson, Chief, Construction and Environmental Review Section, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 320 First Street, NW, Room 901-5 West, Washington, DC 20534.
- By email to kshudson@bop.gov
- Through the project web site at https://www.proposed-fci-letchercountyky.com/.
After the comment period, the Bureau of Prisons will issue what is called a record of decision on whether to build the prison.
The preferred site for the prison is on a spot leveled by mountaintop removal coal mining in the Roxana community, about 10 miles west of Whitesburg, the county seat.
It would hold about 1,152 male prisoners in the medium-security section and another 256 men in an adjoining minimum-security camp, according to the assessment.
It would take about three years to build the facility, at an estimated cost of more than $500 million.
One reason for the price tag is that extensive excavation and compaction would be required at the old mine site to make sure the ground was stable under the prison.
The prison would employ 300 to 350 people.
Those jobs are the key reason many people in the county and the area, which has been hurt by a loss of coal jobs and population, support construction of the prison.
“Many good and earnest men and women desperately need this in their lives,” John K. Turner said in a comment to the Bureau of Prisons. “This is simply an opportunity we cannot afford to miss out on.”
The assessment said there had been “consistent, continuous, and unwavering support expressed by Letcher County’s elected representatives, community leaders, members of local institutions and businesses, and the general public” for developing the prison at the Roxana site.
There is opposition to building the prison, however, including from individuals and groups against high rates of incarceration in the country.
Opponents have raised concerns about the potential environmental degradation to streams and the North Fork of the Kentucky River and argued there are better ways to develop the economy of the area.
Concerned Letcher Countians seeks “a sustainable community that provides education, healthcare, senior care, and environmental growth and protection,” the group said in a comment. “None of these goals include a federal prison.”
Opponents also have questioned the potential positive economic impact of the prison, pointing out poverty rates remain high in Clay, McCreary and Martin counties, where there have been federal prisons for many years.
In response, the Bureau of Prisons said that while many global, national and regional factors drive economic conditions in Eastern Kentucky, the federal prisons in those three counties provide more than 1,000 jobs that wouldn’t be there otherwise.
The assessment released this week said that because of the need to have experienced employees to open the prison, about 40 percent of the jobs would be filled by current employees transferred from elsewhere.
As those more experienced employees retired or transferred, there would be opening for more people from the area.
Members of a local planning commission began pushing for construction of a prison in Letcher County nearly 20 years ago as a way of trying to boost the local economy.
Rogers, a Republican who represents the 5th District in Southern and Eastern Kentucky, got $5 million included in the federal budget in 2006 for the Bureau of Prisons to begin studying potential sites in the county.
Rogers has since gotten money in the budget to build the facility and fought off efforts to kill it.
The administration of President Donald Trump sought to rescind the money in 2017, saying the prison wasn’t needed, and the administration of President Joe Biden has also sought to take back money for the prison.
However, the funding remains intact; in approving the budget request from a committee Rogers chairs, the House Appropriations Committee rejected the request to rescind the money, according to Rogers’ office.
This story was originally published July 11, 2024 at 11:00 AM.
