Alligator Alcatraz's generators emit pollutants 'harmful' to health, suit says

Churchill Ndonwie, Miami Herald on May 27, 2026

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MIAMI — The white tents and chain-link fences may soon be coming down at Alligator Alcatraz, but an environmental advocacy group has sued the Florida Division of Emergency Management, accusing it of violating federal pollution laws by operating the detention center in the middle of the Everglades.

In a 40-page complaint filed in Miami federal court Wednesday, the Center for Biological Diversity argues the diesel-fueled generators and bright lights powering the facility are emitting “significant amounts of dangerous air pollutants that are harmful to human health and the environment.”

The Center also alleges the state didn’t get the proper permits or conduct a detailed air quality analysis before hastily erecting and opening the site on July 1, thereby violating the Clean Air Act.

The Division of Emergency Management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Wednesday’s filing follows a visit by U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost on Tuesday. The Democrat from Orlando said the detention center now held 655 detainees and that the Division of Emergency Management had begun winding down operations at the site, including the amount of gasoline the generators were using.

Frost said he was told it would take 15 to 30 days to fully dismantle the tent city once the detainee population reached zero.

In a statement on Wednesday, the environmental group said generators release air pollutants, such as benzene, formaldehyde and nitrogen oxides, that are harming the nearby Big Cypress National Preserve. Each day of violation could cost Florida taxpayers up to $124,426, the group says.

“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,” said Ryan Maher, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity.

Last fall, the state quietly completed an environmental assessment that found “with possible exceptions of air quality, no significant adverse impacts” were anticipated from the detention center.

The Oct. 23, 2025, report, released as part of thousands of documents and emails from the Division of Emergency Management in response to a public records request by environmental groups, warned that pollution from the site’s generators could likely exceed legal limits and have a “cumulative impact on the environment.”

Since the site opened last summer, the facility has faced multiple lawsuits. In another case, environmental groups accused the state and federal government of failing to comply with federal environmental laws.

The case is set to resume in Miami federal court after the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with government officials and reversed a lower court order requiring the facility’s operations to be shut down.