State Of Florida Appeals Judge's Decision Halting Expansion Of "Alligator Alcatraz"

Soon after a federal judge ordered a slow closure of the "Alligator Alcatraz" detention center surrounded by Big Cypress National Preserve the state of Florida appealed her ruling to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In giving the state and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security 60 days to wind down operations at the center erected on the footprint of a 1960s vision of a massive jetport in the Everglades just west of Miami, Judge Kathleen M. Williams agreed with plaintiffs that state and federal officials were required to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act before building the center.

That act, the hallmark of the country's environmental laws, requires that environmental studies should have been performed to determine what impacts the center would have on the surrounding Everglades and public comment should have been sought on the project before it was allowed to move forward.

In her 82-page ruling (attached below) Thursday evening, the judge agreed with the plaintiffs — the Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Everglades, along with the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida — that the operation at the abandoned jetport posed an environmental threat to the surrounding wetlands and endangered species, was a potential source of pollution runoff from wastewater discharge, and adversely impacted habitat for the highly endangered Florida panther. The detention center also adversely impacted night skies with its artificial lighting and deprived tribal members of access into the national preserve for hunting and other activities, the judge held.

While Williams agreed with the state and Homeland Security attorneys that "the government's interest in immigration enforcement is significant," she ruled that "[T]his position flounders when confronted with the weight of evidence as to the irreparable harm posted by defendants' flouting NEPA protocols."

"Plaintiffs have provided extensive evidence supporting their claims of significant ongoing and likely future environmental harms from the project," wrote the judge. "By contrast, while the defendants repeatedly espouse the importance of immigration enforcement, they offered little to no evidence why this detention camp, in this particular location, is uniquely suited and critical to that mission."

Williams ordered that while the lawsuit arguing that NEPA requirements should have been met before the detention center opened moves forward the state and federal government shall not install any more "industrial-style lighting" at the site, perform any more site expansion, or transport any more detainees to the facility.

She also gave the defendants 60 days to remove temporary fencing, lighting fixtures, and "all generators, gas, sewage, and other waste and waste receptacles that were installed to support this project."

“This is a landmark victory for the Everglades and countless Americans who believe this imperiled wilderness should be protected, not exploited,” said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades. “It sends a clear message that environmental laws must be respected by leaders at the highest levels of our government — and there are consequences for ignoring them.”

“This is a landmark victory for the Everglades and countless Americans who believe this imperiled wilderness should be protected, not exploited,” added Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades. “It sends a clear message that environmental laws must be respected by leaders at the highest levels of our government — and there are consequences for ignoring them.”

In late June the state of Florida erected a small tent village and kitchen facilities at the jetport, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents began transporting detainees to the site. 

During consideration of the jetport in the 1960s, environmental studies predicted such an airport would generate massive quantities of sewage and industrial waste every day, not to mention thousands of tons of air pollution. The report also predicted that the jetport would doom to extinction the already dwindling population of the Florida panther.

Not only did those studies prompt the state and federal governments from pulling their support for the project, but they opened the door for President Gerald Ford to OK the federal government's purchase of the Big Cypress Swamp for $150 million and turning it into the nation’s first nature preserve.