Lawsuit Filed Over “Alligator Alcatraz” Air Pollution

The Center for Biological Diversity sued the state of Florida today to protect the Florida Everglades from dangerous air pollution released by the massive immigrant detention facility in Big Cypress National Preserve, cruelly named “Alligator Alcatraz.”

The Center is suing the Florida Division of Emergency Management over substantial, unpermitted pollution from diesel generators and other air-polluting equipment that have supported the facility since operations began in June 2025.

“Governor DeSantis continues to shamelessly pollute the fragile wetlands and pristine air critical to the health of Big Cypress while refusing to publicly commit to shutting down the facility,” said Ryan Maher, a staff attorney at the Center. “Every day this facility continues to operate is another day of harm to people, endangered species and the delicate wetlands that sustain life in the Everglades. We’re going to hold the state accountable until every dirty diesel generator is removed from the site.”

The lawsuit follows reports from vendors at the facility that the detention center will close in June. Despite these reports, the Florida Division of Emergency Management’s executive director, Kevin Guthrie, recently stated that he has not received a timeline for closure and that the facility could potentially be open for two years, or “maybe even longer depending on the needs of the federal government.”

On Tuesday, following an inspection of the facility, U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost reported that there were still 655 people detained inside. He said he was told that after the facility is empty it could take 15 to 30 days to remove infrastructure from the site. Government officials have made no public commitment to close the facility.

Today’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, says the state is violating the federal Clean Air Act, which requires the agency to obtain an air permit for the equipment and activities that produce harmful air pollution. A fleet of industrial diesel generators powers the detention facility, including around-the-clock air conditioners, flood lighting and a staff village for up to 1,000 workers. The generators release dangerous air pollutants that harm human health and the environment, including benzene, formaldehyde, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, on a site encircled by Big Cypress National Preserve.

These violations could lead to civil penalties for Florida of up to $124,426 per day of violation, which would be paid to the U.S. Treasury.

The Clean Air Act violation adds to other significant environmental violations Friends of the Everglades and the Center identified in their June 2025 lawsuit, joined by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, and the two groups’ July 2025 legal notice.

The detention center is surrounded on all sides by Big Cypress National Preserve, one of America’s first national preserves, which protects ecologically sensitive wetlands and a dozen endangered and threatened species, including Florida panthers, Florida bonneted bats and Everglade snail kites.

The reported plan to close the site by early June would be just days before the conservation groups and the Miccosukee Tribe can resume their June 2025 lawsuit against the Trump administration. The lawsuit had been stayed by a federal appeals court. In addition to violations of the National Environmental Policy Act, National Historic Preservation Act and state laws, the plaintiffs also notified the defendants of their intent to challenge violations of the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act and National Park Service Organic Act.

In the original June 2025 lawsuit, Friends of the Everglades and the Center, represented by Paul Schwiep, Scott Hiaasen, Earthjustice and Center attorneys, sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Florida Division of Emergency Management and Miami-Dade County to stop the project as it was being hastily built with zero environmental review. The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, which has villages close to the unpermitted immigration detention facility, joined the lawsuit.