Two environmental organizations have filed legal petitions to stop the Department of Homeland Security from advancing efforts to transform two Pennsylvania warehouses into Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities.
Green Amendments For The Generations and the Delaware Riverkeeper Network on Friday filed petitions with the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board seeking to intervene in an appeal filed by the federal government.
DHS filed appeals this month to state Department of Environmental Protection orders that would stall plans to convert warehouses in Upper Bern Township and Tremont Township into detention centers.
The Upper Bern property, a 62-acre site with a 527,000-square-foot warehouse, was purchased by ICE for $87.4 million and is expected to house up to 1,500 people.
The Tremont property, a 1.3-million-square-foot former Big Lots distribution center, was purchased by ICE for $119 million and is expected to house up to 7,500 people.
ICE plans to use the Big Lots Distribution Center at 50 Rausch Creek Road in Tremont Township as a detention facility. (Republican Herald)
The orders block ICE from using water and sewage at the sites — even for security personnel to access drinking water or bathroom facilities — until ICE provides the DEP with detailed plans, including for expanding infrastructure.
The two environmental organizations are attempting to become included in the federal government’s appeal, taking DEP’s side in opposition to allowing ICE to use water and sewage systems.
According to the petitions, the organizations believe they should be granted intervention in order to provide evidence and arguments regarding applicable laws and about the Pennsylvania Green Amendment that constitutionally protects the rights of all residents to pure water, clean air and a healthy environment.
“ICE and DHS are seeking to strong-arm Pennsylvania and the communities of Hamburg and Tremont into accepting their efforts to transform windowless warehousing into immigration detention centers, regardless of the devastating harm, impact and costs to our communities and environment,” said Maya van Rossum, a member of the Delaware Riverkeeper and founder of Green Amendments For The Generations.
According to van Rossum, if the federal government’s plans are allowed to move forward they threaten to undermine community drinking and groundwater systems and overwhelm communities with mass amounts of sewage pollutants that current systems cannot handle.
“The result will be people potentially denied drinking water, streams overwhelmed with pollution, fire companies potentially unable to access the water they need to respond to a fire emergency and irreversible harm to the water resources and natural environments important to local residents for their quality of life, enjoyment of their property and recreational joys of life,” she said.
Van Rossum also said that she is concerned about the potential harm detainees may face, with the potential they are denied proper access to clean water, flushable toilets and water for fighting fires.
“Given the known lack of water and sewage infrastructure needed to properly serve the high numbers being proposed for the Berks and Schuylkill County warehouses, it is very foreseeable that these facilities could result in dangerous and inhumane conditions for the detainees, while at the same time harming the surrounding communities,” she said.
If the environmental organizations’ petitions are granted, they will become party to the case as intervenors with the opportunity to fully participate in defense of the state administrative orders and efforts to prevent DHS from advancing its plans without necessary environmental protections, reviews, approvals and permits.