McDowell Plans for Federal Prison Project Still ‘On Target'

Despite a threat by the Bush administration, officials in McDowell County are still hoping to lock up a federal prison project at the Indian Ridge Industrial Park .

The county's Economic Development office has been in contact with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and all indications suggest the project is still a go, County Commission President Gordon Lambert said.

“There is no concern, and the project is still on target to go,” Lambert said. “Rachel (Lester) has been in contact with the Federal Bureau of Prison folks. I'm still very comfortable with it, and confident that it will happen. Everything is proceeding right along.”

Federal and local officials, including U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va. and U.S. Rep. Nich Rahall, D-W.Va., vowed last month to fight a plan by President Bush to eliminate the $142 million already earmarked for the construction of the new federal prison in McDowell County .

In a press release last month, Byrd said the White House, in its budget request of the Congress, unveiled plans to eliminate the $142 million already set aside for the design and construction of the federal prison in Welch.

Both Byrd and Rockefeller sent a letter last month to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales urging him and the Bush Administration to withdraw its plan to cancel funding for construction of the federal prison, according to an earlier report by Byrd spokesman Tom Gavin.

The Associated Press reported last month that Michael Truman with the Federal Bureau of Prisons indicated in an e-mail that even though the Bush administration proposed cutting $142 million in prison construction, “the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons plan to proceed with the procurement process and are hopeful of being able to award projects” in West Virginia and other states.

--Charles Owens (Bluefield Telegraph)