The Federal Bureau of Prisons is taking comments on their Final Environmental Impact Study for siting a federal prison at Roxanna, in Letcher County, KY. The following are reasons that Concerned Letcher Countians oppose this prison and call on BOP to take the "No Action" alternative.
1) No established need: Federal prison population has declined by 26% over the last dozen years.Considering this prison would not be open for another 5 years (2029), the BOP has other options.
2) Decaying federal prisons could be repaired instead of new construction because they sit where there already is infrastructure such as water and sewer, cell service and internet.
3) This prison would be hundreds of miles from the homes of those incarcerated, therefore their rehabilitation is delayed because family, community, and reentry programs are far away. It is very unlikely that any significant number of the incarcerated would be from Letcher County or even eastern Kentucky.
4) Endangered species: this prison construction would be almost on the scale of another strip mine, with valley fill and silt in streams and the river, and 110 acres of woods destroyed. This habitat destruction displaces wildlife.
5) Cost of clearing the site is 92% of the total budget. $506 million was appropriated for the prison but $466 million goes to leveling the top of the mountain. This land disruption increases the risk of another devastating flood in Lecher County.
6) Understaffing is almost guaranteed. There are currently 90 job openings within the 3 federal prisons already in southeastern Kentucky. USP McCreary has 36 vacancies, USP Big Sandy has 27, and FCI Manchester has 27. The BOP says only “16%” of Letcher County residents would be eligible to work in this prison.
7) Mental health is shorthanded for therapists, psychiatrists and psychologists in eastern Kentucky BUT also inside the BOP. Incarcerated people have higher rates of mental health problems, suicide attempts and substance use disorders than the general population, but we also have those conditions in eastern Kentucky. If local providers must also see the incarcerated population, that strains our local services further.
8) Housing is in short supply in Letcher County both before and after the flood. The FEIS says that won’t be a problem because most imported workers will live outside the county, but if our own residents don’t have enough houses, then any increased need will worsen housing conditions. And if FCI Letcher staff don't live in the county how will they have a positive impact on our economy or community?
9) Traffic around Roxana will be much worse. The BOP says in the FEIS that from the 3:30-4:30 time period every day there will be “276” vehicles on the roads there on Hwy 588 and Hwy 160. That’s when school lets out and buses are running. There are already coal trucks on those two narrow roads. This endangers local people and especially school children.
10) Garbage and sewage will increase. The BOP says there will be “2.8 tons” of garbage daily from the prison; that’s 5,600 pounds of garbage per day. The sewage from 1,408 people plus around 300 staff is over 1,700 people daily producing sewage that will either be treated on site or piped to the Whitesburg sewage plant. That’s like suddenly doubling the population of Whitesburg’s sewage production and dumping into their system. And if they treat sewage on site, the effluent chemicals and bacteria get dumped into the North Fork of the Kentucky River.
11) Some landowners do not want to sell their land. This is inherited property, and some landowners want to keep it in their families, but they are afraid that the government will take it anyway by condemning it using eminent domain. Some are afraid to speak publicly because of retribution from politicians, local leaders, businesses, non-profits or others in the community.
12) There are people other than landowners who oppose this prison but may be afraid or hesitant, for the same reasons as in #11, to speak out. The BOP says there has been “consistent, continuous, and unwavering support” for this prison, but they haven’t surveyed residents or listened to the growing numbers of people who oppose it.
13) Prisons do not spur economic growth. In fact, the 3 southeastern Kentucky counties that have federal prisons, Martin, Clay and McCreary, have not seen economic growth. They have continued to lose residents from outmigration and remain categorized as “distressed” by the Appalachian Regional Commission. They have not seen hotels, restaurants, or a significant number of new jobs. In fact, the BOP says the number of new hires from Letcher County will be “small.”
14) Schools will not see a significant increase in population from this prison because the BOP says most employees will live outside Letcher County and their children will not, by the BOP’s own estimate, attend local schools. They don’t force their workers, of which many will be transfers from other prisons, to live locally.
15) Prison employees are at higher risk of suicide than the national average. In fact, the federal prison at Manchester is among the eight BOP institutions with the highest staff suicide rates in the country. Prison employees have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at rates equal to or higher than Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and worse than police officers.
16) The BOP can choose the “No Action” alternative that would cancel this prison project. BOP has not fully looked at other options because they say Congress has pressured them to look only at Letcher County. Is this the right way to spend $505 Million in taxpayer money?
1) No established need: Federal prison population has declined by 26% over the last dozen years.Considering this prison would not be open for another 5 years (2029), the BOP has other options.
2) Decaying federal prisons could be repaired instead of new construction because they sit where there already is infrastructure such as water and sewer, cell service and internet.
3) This prison would be hundreds of miles from the homes of those incarcerated, therefore their rehabilitation is delayed because family, community, and reentry programs are far away. It is very unlikely that any significant number of the incarcerated would be from Letcher County or even eastern Kentucky.
4) Endangered species: this prison construction would be almost on the scale of another strip mine, with valley fill and silt in streams and the river, and 110 acres of woods destroyed. This habitat destruction displaces wildlife.
5) Cost of clearing the site is 92% of the total budget. $506 million was appropriated for the prison but $466 million goes to leveling the top of the mountain. This land disruption increases the risk of another devastating flood in Lecher County.
6) Understaffing is almost guaranteed. There are currently 90 job openings within the 3 federal prisons already in southeastern Kentucky. USP McCreary has 36 vacancies, USP Big Sandy has 27, and FCI Manchester has 27. The BOP says only “16%” of Letcher County residents would be eligible to work in this prison.
7) Mental health is shorthanded for therapists, psychiatrists and psychologists in eastern Kentucky BUT also inside the BOP. Incarcerated people have higher rates of mental health problems, suicide attempts and substance use disorders than the general population, but we also have those conditions in eastern Kentucky. If local providers must also see the incarcerated population, that strains our local services further.
8) Housing is in short supply in Letcher County both before and after the flood. The FEIS says that won’t be a problem because most imported workers will live outside the county, but if our own residents don’t have enough houses, then any increased need will worsen housing conditions. And if FCI Letcher staff don't live in the county how will they have a positive impact on our economy or community?
9) Traffic around Roxana will be much worse. The BOP says in the FEIS that from the 3:30-4:30 time period every day there will be “276” vehicles on the roads there on Hwy 588 and Hwy 160. That’s when school lets out and buses are running. There are already coal trucks on those two narrow roads. This endangers local people and especially school children.
10) Garbage and sewage will increase. The BOP says there will be “2.8 tons” of garbage daily from the prison; that’s 5,600 pounds of garbage per day. The sewage from 1,408 people plus around 300 staff is over 1,700 people daily producing sewage that will either be treated on site or piped to the Whitesburg sewage plant. That’s like suddenly doubling the population of Whitesburg’s sewage production and dumping into their system. And if they treat sewage on site, the effluent chemicals and bacteria get dumped into the North Fork of the Kentucky River.
11) Some landowners do not want to sell their land. This is inherited property, and some landowners want to keep it in their families, but they are afraid that the government will take it anyway by condemning it using eminent domain. Some are afraid to speak publicly because of retribution from politicians, local leaders, businesses, non-profits or others in the community.
12) There are people other than landowners who oppose this prison but may be afraid or hesitant, for the same reasons as in #11, to speak out. The BOP says there has been “consistent, continuous, and unwavering support” for this prison, but they haven’t surveyed residents or listened to the growing numbers of people who oppose it.
13) Prisons do not spur economic growth. In fact, the 3 southeastern Kentucky counties that have federal prisons, Martin, Clay and McCreary, have not seen economic growth. They have continued to lose residents from outmigration and remain categorized as “distressed” by the Appalachian Regional Commission. They have not seen hotels, restaurants, or a significant number of new jobs. In fact, the BOP says the number of new hires from Letcher County will be “small.”
14) Schools will not see a significant increase in population from this prison because the BOP says most employees will live outside Letcher County and their children will not, by the BOP’s own estimate, attend local schools. They don’t force their workers, of which many will be transfers from other prisons, to live locally.
15) Prison employees are at higher risk of suicide than the national average. In fact, the federal prison at Manchester is among the eight BOP institutions with the highest staff suicide rates in the country. Prison employees have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at rates equal to or higher than Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and worse than police officers.
16) The BOP can choose the “No Action” alternative that would cancel this prison project. BOP has not fully looked at other options because they say Congress has pressured them to look only at Letcher County. Is this the right way to spend $505 Million in taxpayer money?
