{"id":895105,"date":"2026-03-28T06:26:35","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T11:26:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/28\/documents-raise-new-concerns-over-alligator-alcatrazs-air-and-climate-pollution\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T06:26:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T11:26:35","slug":"documents-raise-new-concerns-over-alligator-alcatrazs-air-and-climate-pollution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/28\/documents-raise-new-concerns-over-alligator-alcatrazs-air-and-climate-pollution\/","title":{"rendered":"Documents Raise New Concerns Over Alligator Alcatraz\u2019s Air and Climate Pollution"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A state-commissioned environmental assessment on the Everglades migrant detention site known as Alligator Alcatraz, conducted after opponents sued, raises concerns about pollution from the more than 200 generators powering the facility.<\/p>\n

The report was among more than 3,000 records made public<\/a> this week in a lawsuit filed by conservation groups and the Miccosukee Tribe over the detention site, which is situated within a delicate region of the Everglades, a vast watershed that is responsible for the drinking water of millions of Floridians. Thousands of migrants have been detained at the facility since it opened last summer as part of the Trump administration\u2019s crackdown on immigration.<\/p>\n

In their filing, the conservation groups and tribe accuse the federal and state governments of unlawfully rushing the facility to completion without a required environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The government agencies had contended the facility was a state and not a federal one, and that the federal review was not necessary. The agencies also said the detention center would not harm the environment. The site remains open while the litigation is pending before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A hearing is scheduled for April.<\/p>\n

But the newly released records reveal the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) commissioned an environmental consulting firm to conduct an environmental assessment \u201cas stipulated by the National Environmental Policy Act,\u201d as the firm\u2019s report states. The document is dated Oct. 24, 2025, months after Alligator Alcatraz began operating and the conservation groups and tribe filed their lawsuit. FDEM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact is the law requires this analysis to happen before the construction occurred, and that didn\u2019t happen. So it\u2019s too little, too late,\u201d said Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director and a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the conservation groups involved in the litigation. \u201cAll around, it affirms and confirms that we are correct in our case, and we look forward to continuing to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

The environmental assessment concludes Alligator Alcatraz is unlikely to significantly alter the landscape at the site because much of the new construction is confined to the vicinity of a runway that dates back at least 40 years and had been used for pilot training. But the report raises concerns about emissions of air pollutants such as carbon monoxide and particulate matter associated with vehicle use at the site and the continuously running generators that power the facility. The report says those emissions exceed regulatory thresholds.<\/p>\n

The document also makes note of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the generators but suggests the emissions can be reduced to below regulated levels with the installation of nonselective catalytic reduction systems to each generator. Still, the report fails to discuss the release of carbon into the atmosphere that occurs when wetlands such as those found in the Everglades are developed, a significant omission, said Phoenix Rogers, an assistant professor specializing in aquatic ecology at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are misrepresenting that specifically. If you are destroying wetlands, they are a huge carbon sink,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen we build any kind of infrastructure, we lose that capacity forever, and it\u2019s just something we can\u2019t get back. And I think anytime something is developed, that is often something that gets disregarded.\u201d<\/p>\n

The environmental assessment appears to contain other such oversights. When it comes to socioeconomic impacts, the report fails to acknowledge the nearby tribal lands of the Miccosukee, who regard the Everglades as sacred. Within a three-mile radius of Alligator Alcatraz are 10 Miccosukee villages, including one a mere 1,000 feet from the facility. The document states the closest school is 32 miles away in Everglades City without mentioning a Miccosukee school 10 miles from the site. The report concludes the detention center will provide a minor economic benefit locally by offering jobs.<\/p>\n

The document also lists 12 federally or state-protected plants or animals, or species proposed for protection, that occur within the area, including the endangered Florida panther, the official state animal. The report anticipates the detention site\u2019s impact on the panther will be minor, contradicting a panther expert who testified last August at an evidentiary hearing in Miami in the conservation groups\u2019 and tribe\u2019s litigation. The expert said the facility was on lands important to the panther and that he was surprised the animal\u2019s plight had not been considered in advance.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall this environmental assessment falls far short of what\u2019s required under the National Environmental Policy Act,\u201d said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, another conservation group involved in the litigation. \u201cTo build a mass detention center in the heart of the Everglades surrounded by our country\u2019s first national preserve, without in-depth and public analysis with opportunity for input and consideration of alternatives that would be less damaging\u2014it\u2019s enraging.\u201d<\/p>\n

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About This Story<\/h2>\n

Perhaps you noticed: This story, like all the news we publish, is free to read. That\u2019s because Inside Climate News is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. We do not charge a subscription fee, lock our news behind a paywall, or clutter our website with ads. We make our news on climate and the environment freely available to you and anyone who wants it.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not all. We also share our news for free with scores of other media organizations around the country. Many of them can\u2019t afford to do environmental journalism of their own. We\u2019ve built bureaus from coast to coast to report local stories, collaborate with local newsrooms and co-publish articles so that this vital work is shared as widely as possible.<\/p>\n

Two of us launched ICN in 2007. Six years later we earned a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, and now we run the oldest and largest dedicated climate newsroom in the nation. We tell the story in all its complexity. We hold polluters accountable. We expose environmental injustice. We debunk misinformation. We scrutinize solutions and inspire action.<\/p>\n

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Please take a moment to make a tax-deductible donation. Every one of them makes a difference.<\/p>\n

Thank you,<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"Amy\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAmy Green\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/h3>\n

Reporter, Florida<\/h4>\n

Amy Green covers the environment and climate change from Orlando, Florida. She is a mid-career journalist and author whose extensive reporting on the Everglades is featured in the book MOVING WATER, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, and podcast DRAINED, available wherever you get your podcasts. Amy\u2019s work has been recognized with many awards, including a prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award and Public Media Journalists Association award.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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By Amy Green
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A state-commissioned environmental assessment on the Everglades migrant detention site known as Alligator Alcatraz, conducted after opponents sued, raises concerns about pollution from the more than 200 generators powering the facility. The report was among more than 3,000 records made public this week in a lawsuit filed by conservation groups and the Miccosukee Tribe over<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":895106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4431,1286],"tags":[8622,7023],"class_list":{"0":"post-895105","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-documents","8":"category-raise","9":"tag-documents","10":"tag-raise"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=895105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/895106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}