Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Kentucky, is reiterating his support for a 1,400-bed federal prison project with a $500 million price tag that would be built on a former coal mine site in Letcher County.
Rogers added language to the most recent House spending measure to expedite the building of this federal prison.
Federal prison opposition
The majority of locals do not want another jail facility, particularly one that would need to construct a new water and sewer treatment plant, according to Dr. Artie Ann Bates of the group Concerned Letcher Countians.
She urged that instead, locals and small enterprises could use the funds to kick-start regional economies.
“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,” she added.
Very expensive federal prison
The planned Federal Correctional Facility and Prison Camp would be the fourth and most expensive federal prison to be constructed in Eastern Kentucky’s 5th congressional district.
The prison would aid in meeting the ongoing demand for cutting-edge federal correctional facilities and infrastructure in the country’s mid-Atlantic area, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
A shortcut?
The National Environmental Policy Act procedure would not be fully completed because of the language change, according to Emily Posner, general attorney for the organization Voice of the Experienced.
She emphasized that locals would no longer be able to take part in the regulatory process by commenting, making ideas, and studying the environmental impact statement for the project.
“To remove our right to seek judicial review of the environmental impact statement is just such an undemocratic move in the Appropriations Subcommittee,” Posner emphasized. “It’s just really shocking.”
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