U. BERN TWP., Pa. – U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has responded to several administrative orders issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection related to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s recent purchase of a warehouse in Upper Bern Township.
The letter from ICE — addressed to the regional director of the state DEP, with Berks County commissioners copied on it — outlines five “requests” for the DEP to modify its orders. ICE says the DEP should allow it to consume water, as well as generate and dispose of wastewater, at the same level as was authorized for the developer of the property, “irrespective” of the use of building.
Local officials have been told the site at 3501 Mountain Road in Upper Bern could hold 1,500 beds as a processing center, where people would stay three to five days before possibly being moved to a detention facility in Schuylkill County with around 7,500 beds.
The DEP, earlier this month, directed that water and sewage cannot be supplied to the warehouses DHS has recently purchased to use as detention centers, and that the buildings cannot be occupied until DHS demonstrates compliance with federal and state environmental regulations.
ICE called the restrictions on water and sewage use “arbitrary” and said no such restrictions were placed upon the property previously.
In addition, ICE called on the DEP to extend the period of time to submit its written water and sewage plans for the facility and to suspend the 30-day period to appeal DEP’s orders until after DEP has acted on ICE’s request to modify its orders in the case.
ICE also requested that the DEP meet with its representatives and municipal representatives “to discuss a practicable timeline and process-flow for working together to find solutions to the problems DEP has identified in its orders.”
According to the letter, “ICE has not discussed the DEP administrative orders in any detail with local authorities, but it believes that the orders place them in awkward positions given current water and sewage circumstances as they seek to comply with the DEP orders they received.”
The orders state that the buildings cannot be occupied until DHS demonstrates compliance with federal and state environmental regulations.
Keith Ingalsbe, a director of assets and facilities management for ICE, signed the letter dated March 17, inviting the state DEP to contact him to discuss.
Last week, DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley shared her rationale for the state’s orders, saying, in part, “Based on what the Department has learned about DHS’s plans to convert two commercial warehouses into detention centers for 9,000 people, there are serious concerns about the environmental impacts of these actions. The conversion of warehouses to detention facilities risks harming the communities in and around Tremont and Upper Bern townships, overwhelming their sewage facilities and exceeding the available drinking water supply.”
“Doubling the populations of these areas could drain drinking water sources and lead to polluted waterways from overwhelmed sewage facilities leaking raw waste into our streets and rivers,” Shirley said. “Just like anyone else, DHS needs to demonstrate its facilities comply with environmental standards.”