ICE does not yet have a formal written plan to supply drinking water or manage wastewater at its proposed 7,500-bed immigration detention center in Schuylkill County.
The acknowledgment came in a letter from ICE Assistant Director Keith Ingalsbe to the state’s Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), in which the federal agency asked the state to modify or suspend recent administrative orders blocking the facility’s opening.
DEP issued orders earlier this month prohibiting ICE from using the former Big Lots warehouse in Tremont Township as a detention center until it meets state environmental standards. Regulators say that supplying water for the proposed population – up to 7,500 detainees and 2,500 employees and contractors, based on information gathered from ICE through Schuylkill County Commissioners – with the currently available resources would deplete the public water supply in the Tremont area.
Related orders were issued to Schuylkill County Municipal Authority and Tremont Township, restricting them from providing services to the site without state approval. The regulatory action followed statements by Gov. Josh Shapiro, who said at a press conference in Berks County that his administration will use its legal and regulatory authority to prevent ICE from opening detention centers in Schuylkill and Berks counties.
In his letter to DEP Regional Director Joseph Buczynski, Ingalsbe requested a meeting with local officials “to find practicable solutions to the problems DEP noted in its orders.”
He also asked the state to modify its mandates, characterizing some of the restrictions as “arbitrary.”
DEP previously ordered ICE not to use any water at the site except for fire protection. It also prohibited ICE from hauling bulk water to the property, creating a new water source, or using portable tanks and chemical toilets without proper permits.
Ingalsbe asked DEP to modify the orders to allow ICE to immediately use the same amount of water and generate the same level of wastewater that Big Lots was permitted to use.
“To restrict ICE to using no water other than for fire protection seems arbitrary, since DEP appears to have already approved municipal plans that accommodate water use in general at the former warehouse building,” Ingalsbe wrote.
Addressing wastewater, he added: “To restrict ICE from disposing of any sewage without such approval seems arbitrary, since DEP appears to have already approved municipal plans that accommodate sewage generation and disposal in general at the former warehouse building.”
Extensions on State Deadlines
DEP gave ICE 20 days to submit written plans detailing how it will provide drinking water and handle sewage for the facility.
Ingalsbe asked DEP to extend that deadline to April 30, stating the agency cannot meet the 20-day timeline because its plans are not yet finalized.
Additionally, ICE requested DEP suspend its 30-day deadline for the agency to appeal the administrative orders. Ingalsbe asked that the appeal deadline be pushed to July 1, after ICE submits its water and sewage plans and meets with state and local officials.
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