For decades, United States Representative Hal Rogers has worked to bring a new federal prison to his district in eastern Kentucky—specifically, at the site of a former coal mine in Letcher County. In September 2022, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) announced a plan to build a medium-security facility on the site—a win for Rogers. Local groups have been fighting the move, arguing that, in addition to the environmental health risks the site poses, building another prison on toxic land is unnecessary and a waste of public dollars. Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Letcher would be the fifth federal prison in eastern Kentucky alone and would cost the public $500 million.

The proposed site has already been devastated by mountaintop mining, which is considered one of the most destructive ways to mine coal because it contaminates the air and waterways, destroys forests, and increases the risk of flooding. Local activists have said constructing a new prison would cause further damage and emit thousands of pounds of greenhouse gases.

The BOP’s own environmental impact statement notes that the construction and operation of FCI Letcher may lead to more stormwater runoff, which could harm the environment, pollute waterways and wetlands, and cause flooding. According to the statement, the BOP’s plan “incorporates measures to avoid or minimize environmental impacts to the extent practicable.”

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.

Read the full article about building prisons on toxic land by Nazish Dholakia at The Vera Institute of Justice.