Sierra Club opposes new immigration detention center proposed in Southwest Ranches


By Susannah Bryan, Sun Sentinel

11:11 p.m. EST, February 12, 2012
SOUTHWEST RANCHES—

The Broward Group of the Sierra Club has come out in opposition to the new immigration detention center proposed for Southwest Ranches, saying it would burden the water supply.

The 1,500-bed facility would draw excessive amounts of water from the Biscayne Aquifer – about 180,000 gallons per day – at a time when the existing regional water supply is already strained, said Matthew Schwartz, conservation chair of the Sierra Club.

The project would also contribute to Broward County's existing wastewater disposal problem, Schwartz said.
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"Overdevelopment at the expense of our water supply and natural resources has been the norm for many years in Broward County," Schwartz said. "In 2007, the city of Pembroke Pines, the supplier of water for this facility, was within 100,000 gallons per day of being forced to adopt an alternative water supply at huge cost to residents. That alternative would have injected 7 million gallons a day of treated sewage back into the Biscayne Aquifer."

Pembroke Pines officials have talked about the possibility of not providing water for the project.

Officials with Corrections Corporation of America, which will build and run the detention center, have said they will build their own water plant if necessary.

Some residents in Southwest Ranches and Pembroke Pines are opposed to the project, saying it will bring traffic and noise to an area surrounded by homes, schools and parks.

Not everyone is opposed to the facility. Some say it will bring much needed jobs and tax dollars to the region.

sbryan@tribune.com or 954-356-4554

Sierra Club objects to new immigration detention center proposed in Southwest Ranches, saying it would burden water supply - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com