Federal judge orders two-week construction pause at ‘Alligator Alcatraz'
'It's like pouring water on glass,' McVoy said of water landing on the new pavement. 'It doesn't go in; it runs off. And wherever it runs into is potentially a concern. That's why urban areas [near the Everglades] have strict requirements about how to have a plan to treat water.'
Geologist Dillon Reio testified that he estimated 20 or more acres of new pavement had been added to the site. He said pollution chemicals would form as a result, damaging aquatic and terrestrial life.
One of the defense's main arguments is that the environmental law in question, the National Environmental Policy Act, doesn't apply given that the facility was 'planned, executed, managed and funded' by the state and not the federal government, as Panuccio described it to the judge. Schwiep countered that all the plaintiffs had to show was that a 'federal actor is involved,' and Williams concluded it was a 'joint partnership.'
Panuccio had asked the judge to consider factoring in that illegal immigration posed a harm to society and noted that detention centers had been overcrowded, necessitating temporary detainment facilities.
Much of the state's pushback additionally rests on an argument that the airstrip was being used more frequently than the plaintiffs realize before the detention center was built. They leaned into assertions that the plaintiffs failed to show any new significant impact to the environment from the way the airstrip operated previously.
They pointed to data showing an estimated 150 flights used the airstrip every day for flight training, as well as training for military aircraft, and argued through questioning that Reio's testimony wasn't specific enough because he used engineering drawings rather than accessing the site directly to study it. They also said he failed to use the initial flight data as a baseline for comparing the impact to the area and didn't personally assess the drainage setup.
The state hasn't specified what types of aircraft were using the airstrip before, but one aerial photo showed what appeared to be a large commercial-style plane. The state's Emergency Management Division didn't respond to questions about how many flights are coming in and out of the airstrip now and whether the area is still being used as a training facility.
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Meet the Native American tribe that beat the Trump administration in court -- for now
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Newsweek
2 days ago
- Newsweek
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New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
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