Activists say Kentucky’s new prison proposal is a step backward for environmental justice

No one thought they could shut this prison down. Can an interracial, interregional coalition do it again?

In 2018, a small coalition of residents, organizers, lawyers, and professors who organized to halt an eastern Kentucky prison construction rejoiced. The Department of Justice (DOJ) reversed course on its 2018 budget plan, rescinding $444 million earmarked for the construction of a federal prison in Roxana, Kentucky. The reason? The Bureau of Prisons (BOP), which is housed within the DOJ, didn’t feel like it was needed. Funds could be better spent elsewhere, like the infrastructure needs of the 123 existing federal prisons that were “deteriorating,” according to agency heads.

Building Prisons on Toxc Land Has Devastating Consequences

In Kentucky and across the country, prisons are frequently built in the cheapest and most undesirable locations, which often means land that is on or near toxic waste—a practice that takes “life-threatening tolls on human health.” As a result, people who are incarcerated are regularly exposed to water and air pollution in facilities located on or near toxic wastelands, such as coal ash sites and landfills, leading to serious long-term health consequences, including respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Lacking any agency over their exposure to hazardous conditions, incarcerated people are more likely to be exposed to environmental harms than the overall population. Corrections staff and people who visit incarcerated family members at these facilities are also exposed to hazardous conditions. However, they have ways to mitigate risks that people who are incarcerated do not. For example, in facilities where the drinking water is contaminated, corrections officers have been given bottled water, while those incarcerated frequently report having to drink brown water, water that smells and tastes of sewage and sulfur, water that contains sediment, and water that’s laden with arsenic.

Opponents of proposed Letcher County prison say proposed federal legislation could restrict oversight

National and local groups against a proposed prison in Letcher County say they’re worried proposed legislation could restrict oversight on its construction.The proposed federal prison would be the fourth in southeast Kentucky. The $500 million project has been spearheaded by Representative Hal Rogers since 2006.Section 223 of the House Appropriations Committee’s Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies budgetary bill for next fiscal year would give exclusive jurisdiction over any legal action towards the prison to the Eastern District of Kentucky.Artie Ann Bates with Concerned Letcher Countians says that could affect inmates housed at the prison from outside Kentucky.

Why Does the Federal Government Want to Build a Prison in the Area with the Nation's Highest Hidden Flood Risk?

WHITESBURG, Ky.—In nearly four decades living here, Kasey Wright had never seen the North Fork of the Kentucky River flood her neighborhood at the water’s edge. Then last July, thunderstorms unleashed a deluge, sending a torrent of water 6 feet high through her home.

“Eastern Kentucky Needs Flood Relief, Not Another Federal Prison”
"Tanya Turner, a member of the coalition, said in 2020: “When you are just seeing so intimately every day what your community lacks, it’s hard not to dream about what that much money could do. People talked about rehab facilities, art centers, big maker spaces, all kinds of stuff.”

“Opponents of a proposed EKY federal prison allege KY Congressman is rushing project to avoid scrutiny”

Opponents of a proposed federal prison in Letcher County say House Appropriations Chair Hal Rogers is trying to rush the project through without adequate scrutiny. Dr. Artie Ann Bates, with the group Concerned Letcher Countians, is one of those opposed to the more than 500 million dollar project. “It could be so much so much more appropriately used for housing. For example, the proponents of the prison admit that we can't just automatically hire people from Letcher County, even though local jobs is one of their big selling points.” Building Community Not Prisons and Concerned Letcher Countians say Rogers added language to a bill last week that would require a decision on the 14-hundred bed FCI Letcher within 30 days – and prevent federal courts from considering challenges to it. Bates said the county has much more pressing needs.

“There's a new plan for a prison in Letcher County.”
"The region is recovering from a catastrophic flood that upended thousands of lives. Whitaker doesn’t think it’s a coincidence the project was brought back up within two months of the flooding. “It’s sort of scary,” Whitaker said. “They could fast track it right back again, especially with this disaster here getting all of our attention.”

“KY Rep. Pushes to Fast-Track Federal Prison Project, Despite Local Opposition”
”There's absolutely no reason to build another new prison and put it in a super remote area with no infrastructure that currently doesn't have the population to staff it," Bates contended. "And then also, we had this major flood last year, and our county has not recovered from that."

“Appalachia vs. the Carceral State"

“But the fantasy of perpetual economic growth by carceral means was even darker: an ever-expanding penal colony in the southern mountains, where the rural casualties of deindustrialization are put to work imprisoning the urban poor."

"The Prison They Didn't Build"

"...after that mountaintop was removed, life returned to that strange, flat top, and in the decades since, the couple who owned it has gotten creative. They hosted a bluegrass festival. People have gotten married up there. Others hunt for mushrooms and ginseng. One thing that’s not happening in that meadow? There’s no prison getting built."

"We need a well-designed plan to repair or replace our crumbling federal prisons"

"In contrast, Letcher is a rural county with little industry or infrastructure, and most other businesses are fast food restaurants, Dollar Stores, and gas stations. There is virtually no public transportation service, and the nearest commercial airports are located over 100 miles from Whitesburg, the county seat. Hiring and maintaining a professional workforce in this area will be extremely challenging."

"Is a Federal Prison Really our Best Bet?"

"In Letcher County, people need jobs and rebuilding after the floods, but a prison is more of a curse than a cure...Prison time often worsens the poverty of incarcerated people, especially the many who have lower education and income levels than non-incarcerated people, as their children, mothers, partners lose income and spend money trying to keep in contact. Family connection is the most important factor in reducing recidivism, yet incarcerated people may go years without direct physical contact."

“A Special Episode of Rise: Eastern Kentucky”

"Building Prisons in Appalachia"

"But, then, in the 2018 Consolidated Appropriations Act passed on March 23, President Donald Trump not only reinstated the full amount but also added an additional $60 million, for a total of $510 million for the prison project. This means USP Letcher will be the most expensive federal prison ever built, surpassing USP Big Sandy, just two counties north of Letcher, whose expense rose significantly when the prison was found to be sinking into the abandoned coal mine beneath it. In short, Congress has just committed half a billion dollars to build a prison that even the Bureau of Prisons does not think is necessary."