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For decades, Sierra Club has been fighting the practice of mountaintop removal mining and its disastrous effects on the environment and communities across Appalachia. Now Sierra Club is supporting Letcher County residents who are fighting to stop a reforested and reclaimed mountaintop in Roxana from being cleared and cemented over to build Eastern Kentucky’s fourth federal prison, FCI Letcher. The Federal Bureau of Prisons is targeting this reclaimed mining site for further exploitation under an empty promise of economic development that will destroy over 120 acres of forest habitat and two acres of wetlands, endangering watersheds and wildlife. We need you to tell the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) that Kentuckians demand a better use of half a billion dollars in federal funding than an unnecessary prison in a county still recovering from the devastating 2022 floods.
False promises
On July 12, the BOP published the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for 500 acres of land known as the Roxana Site, located approximately 10 miles west of Whitesburg in Letcher County and less than two miles from the Lilley Cornett Woods, an old growth forest with an abundant biodiversity of plants and animals. Even though both the Trump and Biden administrations agreed that declining federal prison populations made the new construction unnecessary and attempted to rescind the $500 million dollars in every federal budget since 2018, the project continues to move forward at the insistence of Representative Hal Rogers (KY-5). A coalition of local residents, environmentalists, incarcerated persons and their families, and legal experts have already submitted public comments that pointed out the many deficiencies in the draft EIS, yet they remain in the final plan. The release of the final EIS opened up a 30-day public comment period on the prison that closes August 12, and we need you to add your voice to the growing call to stop this prison in its tracks.
We are being told that the degradation and harm to surrounding habitats and nearby wetlands, endangered species, and one of the few remaining old growth forests in the state is in trade for much needed economic revitalization of the region. But the BOP itself has openly admitted there will be “negligible benefit” for employment or increased income for locals. This comes as no surprise to those of us living in Clay, Martin, and McCreary counties, which remain some of the poorest counties in the entire country after federal prisons were built there. Continuing to build new prisons and funnel millions of dollars into mass incarceration is not a path forward for a greener Kentucky.
Flood risks and environmental impact
If the prison is built, it will emit thousands of pounds of greenhouse gasses and contribute to significant light and noise pollution, disrupting local wildlife and residents. After clearing the forest, construction will add new impervious surfaces to the hilltop – concrete and buildings that will make it so stormwater can’t drain into the land, which according to the EIS will lead to more stormwater runoff that can harm the environment, pollute water, and put the public at risk of flooding. Capping this site with concrete slabs and buildings is reckless at best, and could be deadly at worst. Concerned Letcher Countians are not alone in asking, why would the federal government place an expensive prison in the county with the largest hidden flood risk in the nation?
Sierra Club Kentucky members and supporters live our mission: Explore. Enjoy. Protect. We cannot accomplish the first two parts of the mission without the third. We ask you now to join us in protecting the Indiana Bat, Gray Bat, Northern long-eared bat, Kentucky arrow darter, and Monarch butterfly habitats, and protecting the health and wellbeing of Letcher County residents. We beat this prison once before and we can do it again. Tell the BOP: Kentucky does not need another federal prison on a mountaintop removal site!
Stronger Together!
Julia Finch
Director, Kentucky Chapter
Tom Sexton
Eastern Kentucky Organizer, Kentucky Chapter
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