Florida is facing another lawsuit having to do with the Alligator Alcatraz immigrant detention center in Collier County, even as it appears it might be shutting down.
The Center for Biological Diversity filed Wednesday, May 27, against the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) over “substantial, unpermitted pollution from diesel generators and other air-polluting equipment that have supported the facility since operations began in June 2025.”
The case was filed in the United States District Court Southern District of Florida.
Led by Executive Director Kevin Guthrie, the FDEM plans for and responds to both natural and man-made disasters. It also is in charge of Alligator Alcatraz, which houses people arrested by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency known as ICE.
In its lawsuit, the Center for Biological Diversity says Florida 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 national nonprofit said in a statement. “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.”
The first lawsuit against Alligator Alcatraz
The Center, along with environmental nonprofit group Friends of the Everglades and the Miccosukee Tribe sued in June to stop Alligator Alcatraz before it opened July 2, 2025.
They argued state and federal agencies rushed the project without the environmental review required under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act (NEPA). FDEM fought back and said it was a state facility that wasn’t subject to the federal environmental review.
After delays from a federal shutdown and multiple reviews, rulings and appeals, a three-judge appeals court panel decided 2-1 in April that Alligator Alcatraz can remain open without federal environmental reviews. The groups’ lawsuit against the Trump Administration was stayed and can resume in June.
“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 Center wrote in its press release.
“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.”
“This air-polluting equipment at the facility emits significant amounts of dangerous air pollutants that are harmful to human health and the environment, including pollutants that cause cancer, asthma attacks, cardiovascular disease, and premature death,” the lawsuit claims.
Located at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport that Gov. Ron DeSantis claimed via an emergency order, Alligator Alcatraz also is located in Big Cypress National Preserve and abuts Everglades National Park.
Big Cypress is a 730,000-acre area set aside after people across south Florida fended off a planned airport proposed to be the largest in the world. The site on which Alligator Alcatraz sits encompasses 24,960 acres, which is about the size of Fort Myers. Everglades National Park is 1.5 million acres, one of the largest parks in the country.
“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,” Ryan Maher, a staff attorney at the Center said in a statement. “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 Center for Biological Diversity, dedicated to protecting endangered species and wild habitats, is famous for its aggressive use of legal action and science, defending hundreds of species and millions of acres since its founding in 1989.
Lawsuit seeks fines, injunctive relief, that operations cease
The Center wants the facility, also called Soft-Sided Facility South and South Florida Detention Center in court documents and on government websites, to “cease operating the air-polluting equipment … unless and until it obtains the required PSD air pollution permit; and to pay appropriate civil penalties for each day of violation. This permit will reduce harmful emissions, and the permitting process will yield important information to which members of the public are entitled.”
The alleged 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, according to the Center.
What if Alligator Alcatraz closes next month?
Reports from state and federal legislators that the facility is being wound down haven’t been confirmed by DeSantis or the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“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,” Mayer wrote. “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.”
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J. Kyle Foster is a senior growth & development reporter for The News-Press & Naples Daily News. Reach her by emailing jfoster1@usatodayco.com.
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This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: ‘Unpermitted pollution” topic of latest lawsuit about Alligator Alcatraz
Reporting by J. Kyle Foster, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Naples Daily News
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