U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is fighting back against a state regulator’s orders limiting its ability to move forward on the proposed detention center in Schuylkill County.
On Wednesday, ICE filed an appeal with the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board, challenging orders from the state’s Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) that basically forbid it from using water at its newly purchased Tremont Township facility.
In January, the federal government paid $119 million for the former Big Lots Distribution Center on Rausch Creek Rd., with the intention of transforming it into a 7,500-bed ICE detention center, part of the Trump administration’s Detention Reengineering Initiative. The facility would be one of the largest immigration detention centers in the country, if ICE’s plans come to fruition.
Soon after the sale, however, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced at a press conference in Leesport, Berks County – where ICE purchased another, smaller warehouse for a similar purpose – that he’d use every power he believes he has to stop the detention centers from opening. One of those powers he’s attempting to exercise is the use of DEP to impose orders limiting water and sewage service usage.
In Tremont Township, DEP ordered that the federal government couldn’t use municipal water for anything other than fire protection and entirely restricted the agency’s use of sewage systems at its property.
ICE initially asked for more time to respond the orders and for modifications that would allow it to use the water and sewage capabilities that were granted to the previous owner, when the warehouse functioned as such for Big Lots.
In its appeal filed this week, ICE alleges the state is weaponizing environmental regulations to unlawfully block it from utilizing the site, pointing to public statements made by the governor at that press conference in February. (READ MORE: Shapiro Promises “Everything in His Power” to Stop ICE in Schuylkill, Berks Counties)
When asked for a response to ICE’s appeal of its orders, a DEP spokesperson told Coal Region Canary, “The explanations for the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)’s orders are described in the orders themselves, which remain in effect during this appeal.
DEP’s orders enforce the Pennsylvania Safe Drinking Water Act and the Sewage Facilities Act, and demand ICE submit new, approved utility plans before anyone can occupy the building.
In its appeal, ICE claims it purchased the Tremont Township warehouse with the understanding that it could use the existing water and sewer services provided by Schuylkill County Municipal Authority (SCMA), which was also subject to DEP orders related to the warehouse.
ICE says DEP’s order prohibits it from hauling in bulk water, developing a new water source, or even using holding tanks and chemical toilets on the property. It says the DEP orders create “inexplicably inconsistent results.” The appeal notes that the federal agency cannot even place continuous security personnel on the property to protect it from vandalism, because the state order prevents guards from using a restroom or taking a drink of water.
Further, the federal government argues that the state’s actions are unconstitutional. The appeal alleges the DEP violated the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which ensures that federal law overrides state regulations, and prohibiting states from interfering with federal operations. According to the filing, ICE asserts that Congress has given the federal government exclusive authority over immigration enforcement and detention facilities.
To support its claim that the DEP’s actions are politically motivated rather than environmentally driven, the appeal highlights Shapiro’s comments at that February press conference in which he publicly vowed to “use every tool” at his disposal to stop ICE facilities from opening in Pennsylvania, specifically mentioning the DEP as a regulatory means of doing that.
ICE is asking the Environmental Hearing Board to intervene and amend the DEP’s orders. It says it is willing to work on any necessary environmental compliance plans, but is requesting permission to immediately use the Tremont facility’s water and wastewater systems at the same levels that were approved for the previous owners.
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