• 02-13-2012 | 08:40 AM
• Author: Daniel M. Kowalski

Local Sierra Club opposes South Florida immigration detention center

"The Broward Group of the Sierra Club last week announced its opposition to the federal immigration detention center set to be built in the South Florida town of Southwest Ranches.

The group “passed a resolution opposing construction of a 1,500 bed for-profit detention facility by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) in the Town of Southwest Ranches in western Broward County,” according to a press release. “The center would be run under the auspices of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has yet to award a contract to CCA for this project.”

The resolution that the detention facility would

• “utilize approximately 180,000 gallons of water per day, whichwould place additional strain on the Biscayne Aquifer, virtually the sole source of drinking water for allof Broward County”;
• “generate 180,000 gallons per day of wastewater,which would be injected approximately 2,600 feet underground, and the Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) has found that injected wastewater may migrate horizontally into marine and other waters and vertically into usable drinking waters”;
•  make the city of Pembroke Pines “the supplier of water for the facility.” “In 2007 the City was within 100,000 gallons per day of the use level at which the South Florida Water ManagementDistrict (SFWMD) Regional Water Availability Rule requires the city to construct an alternative water supply at great public cost,” the resolution adds.

The environmental group also argues that the project would further degrade the gateway to what remains of Broward County’s natural areas — even while the county plans on taking control of the nearby Everglades Holiday Park for the purpose of expanded ecotourism." - Marcos Restrepo, Feb. 13, 2012.