A citizens' group in Letcher County is challenging the federal government's plan to build a massive federal prison, saying the Bureau of Prisons has ignored newly discovered environmental hazards on the proposed site.

Concerned Letcher Countians contends that the bureau has failed to acknowledge evidence of endangered bat species and flood risks at the Roxana site, which sits on a former coal mine. The group also alleges the agency has not updated its environmental impact statement as required by federal law.

"The Bureau of Prisons continues to move forward as if that purchase never happened," said Artie Ann Bates, secretary of the group, referring to a 2024 land acquisition. "Most significantly, they have not updated their environmental impact statement, which is a requirement under the National Environmental Policy Act."

The proposed $500 million federal prison would house more than 1,000 incarcerated people and become the fifth federal prison in eastern Kentucky. The project was initially funded in 2016, faced stiff local opposition and was retracted in 2019, but was revived years later.

The Appalachian Rekindling Project, a community building and land restoration group, purchased 63 acres of the 500-acre site in late December 2024 for $160,000 to prevent the prison's construction and instead restore the former strip mine.

The Bureau of Prisons approved the Roxana site in October 2024, but a coalition of advocacy groups submitted a letter in June 2026 asserting that new environmental evidence makes the project "legally and environmentally indefensible."

Bates said the county lacks the resources to handle a prison facility of that size. She noted that the sheriff's office operates only during regular business hours, relying on Kentucky State Police for coverage nights and weekends.

She also challenged claims that the prison would bring economic development, pointing to other federal prisons in neighboring Martin, McCreary, Clay and Boyd counties that have failed to reverse high unemployment and population loss despite operating for more than 20 years.

The Kentucky Resources Council warned that the project would destroy more than 120 acres of forest habitat and 2 acres of wetlands, potentially endangering watersheds and wildlife. The site lies on a former mountaintop mining area contaminated with air and water pollutants.

The proposed 2026 federal budget includes language to rescind $500 million in prior funding for the project, though Rep. Hal Rogers, a powerful Republican whose district includes Letcher County, has backed the prison as an economic development tool.