FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: 

Building Community Not Prison: Attica Scott attica@fjan.org, 502 625-5299
Abolitionist Law Center: Jaclyn Kurin, jkurin@alcenter.org, 703-850-8914
Concerned Letcher Countians:Artie Ann Bates,artieannbates@gmail.com, 606-233-0097
Institute to End Mass Incarceration: Joan Steffen, joan@endmassincarceration.org, 847-790-6064

Letcher County, Kentucky—A coalition of advocacy organizations, Building Community Not Prisons (BCNP), has submitted a formal letter to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) demanding that the agency rescind its approval of a proposed federal prison in Letcher County and undertake additional environmental review that is required by federal law.

The letter marks the latest development in a decades-long effort to block the controversial prison project, which has been led by senior Congressman Hal Rogers. Despite repeated attempts over more than twenty years, the project has faced consistent opposition and setbacks due to environmental, economic, and community concerns.

Under federal administrative and environmental laws, including requirements for comprehensive environmental review, the BOP is obligated to conduct extensive studies and public engagement before moving forward. In October 2024, the agency concluded its environmental review process and issued a Record of Decision (ROD) approving construction of the prison.

That 2024 decision came despite a detailed submission from BCNP and allied organizations outlining significant risks, including potential ecological harm to the region, economic instability for local communities, public safety risks to BOP staff and incarcerated people due to increasingly extreme weather events, the geographic separation between loved ones and people incarcerated in remote Appalachian prisons, and the likelihood of dangerous and inhumane conditions for incarcerated individuals housed at the facility.

Since the issuance of the ROD, the coalition reports that new and significant safety hazards have emerged or been identified—risks that were not previously studied or disclosed during the initial environmental review process.  “The Bureau of Prisons’ proposed prison in Letcher County, Kentucky is legally and environmentally indefensible, and its Record of Decision must be rescinded,” said Attica Scott of Forward Justice, one of the letter’s signatories. “New evidence — including endangered bat species detected on the Roxana site, expert analysis showing dramatically increased flood risk, and the BOP’s failure to consult with the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma as required by federal law — makes clear that the agency’s environmental review is fatally flawed. Letcher County has already suffered devastating, repeated floods since the BOP issued its decision, and further cuts to the National Weather Service mean residents and incarcerated people alike would face life-threatening risks without adequate warning systems.” Furthermore, the UKB’s request for the opportunity to consult has gone unanswered by the BOP.

BCNP and some allied organizations also raised concerns with how the new construction would interfere with the work of new landowners at the site. “With construction damage comparable to another mining operation, the new prison would undermine three decades of environmental restoration of this strip-mined mountaintop and prevent other, better uses of the land in rural Roxana, KY,” said BCNP. “The Appalachian Rekindling Project (ARP), an intertribal Indigenous organization, purchased property at the site since the Bureau’s ROD in October 2024. ARP is using their land for environmental education and bison restoration. The Bureau must rethink how a prison would hamper ARP’s work and the new opportunities it offers Letcher Countians.”

BCNP member organization, the Institute to End Mass Incarceration (IEMI), pointed out that BOP previously re-opened the review process when it learned new information about landowners: “In 2017, BOP went back to the drawing board when a landowner told the agency he was not interested in selling his land. A new landowner, ARP, is now moving forward with alternative plans for their property. As it has done previously, BOP must stop and consider how these changes impact its choice of construction site,” said Joan Steffen of IEMI.

In its latest letter, the coalition calls on the BOP to:

• Rescind the October 2024 Record of Decision;
• Conduct a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to evaluate newly identified risks;
• Reopen the public process with additional hearings and opportunities for community comment.

Federal law mandates the BOP to supplement its previous environmental review when substantial new circumstances or information is learned about a project’s adverse impacts. “Our coalition is demanding the BOP fulfill its legal obligations under NEPA: rescind the Record of Decision, issue a supplemental environmental impact statement, and reopen the public comment period before this project moves one step further,” said Scott.

Local residents and advocacy groups have continued to voice strong opposition, arguing that the project threatens fragile ecosystems in the region and diverts resources from sustainable economic development in Eastern Kentucky. Coalition member organization, Concerned Letcher Countians, highlighted the need for investments in local medical services: “Since one of only two ambulance services in Letcher County closed, residents in the western end of the county have been left without adequate emergency services. Ambulance and police response times have grown longer. A new prison would only add to the strain on emergency services and make things worse. First, our community needs funding for ambulance and police services.”

Signatory Kentucky Resource Council also highlighted the local environmental and economic impacts of the prison construction project: “The proposed Letcher County prison is a more than $500 million federal project dressed up as economic development, with enormous environmental and financial costs of building on a former mine site. The proposed project site is part of a biologically rich Appalachian landscape, where forests, streams, and wetlands support wildlife and help protect communities from flooding. Another prison will not solve the region’s needs for affordable housing and health care, flood protection, or infrastructure. Letcher County instead deserves meaningful investment in its people, communities, and the region’s future.”

If built, the impact of the new federal prison would reverberate across the country. “Without doubt, Louisiana residents would be harmed by a new BOP prison in Letcher County, Kentucky,” said Ilona Prieto, Director of Litigation at Voice of the Experienced (VOTE), one of the letter’s signatories. “The location of this proposed prison presents a number of additional harms, including that it is a long distance – and extremely long journey on a route with very few public transport options – from the loved ones of the people most likely to be incarcerated in it if built: Black and brown people from urban centers like Washington, D.C.,” said Steffen. “IEMI’s extensive reported research into the inter-generational and widespread harms of family and community separation by such distance supports our opposition to this project moving forward.”

The coalition emphasized that federal law requires agencies to take a “hard look” at environmental consequences, particularly when new information arises that could significantly alter prior conclusions.

Advocates say they will continue to pursue all available legal and administrative avenues to halt the project unless and until a complete and lawful review is conducted.

Take Action Now to Stop the Letcher County Prison:

You can help stop the Letcher County prison. Click this link to tell your federal legislator to rescind the prison’s funding and put an end to the Letcher County prison for good.

Letter Signatories:

Building Community Not Prisons coalition (BCNP) BCNP Land Working Group
Concerned Letcher Countians (CLC)
Dream.org
Forward Justice Action (FJA)
Institute to End Mass Incarceration (IEMI)
Kentucky Resource Council (KRC)
Abolitionist Law Center (ALC)
Voice of the Experienced (VOTE)
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (UKB)

View the letter