Georgia officials locked down the water line for a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Social Circle after expressing concern that the planned detention center would overwhelm the small city’s infrastructure.
City Manager Eric Taylor said this week that the water has been shut off, reiterating requests for details on how federal authorities plan to address questions regarding how the ICE facility’s water and sewer needs will be met. The planned detention center in the Republican stronghold about 45 miles east of Atlanta has seen pushback from some in the GOP due largely to infrastructural concerns. It is expected to house up to 10,000 people, and would more than triple the city’s population, according to local authorities.
“There is a lock on the meter,” Taylor told GPB. “A representative from ICE was informed about the lock on the meter shortly after the sale of the property when she inquired about how to establish an account. The lock is there until ICE indicates how water and sewer will be served without exceeding our limited infrastructure capacity.”
The detention facility would have a sewage demand of 1,001,683 gallons per day, but the city’s wastewater system processes 660,000 gallons a day and is already operating at capacity, according to Social Circle.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has held one conversation with city officials about the facility, according to local authorities. That conversation, detailed in a Feb. 18 statement from the city, did not satisfy local concerns about strains to the city’s infrastructure.
Social Circle said DHS referenced a sewer treatment plant the city is planning to build, but construction has not started, and it wouldn’t be built by the time the ICE facility opens. Local officials also cast doubt on DHS documents they said indicated “the potential” for on-site sewage infrastructure.
“What remains notably unclear is where the resulting liquid effluent would actually be discharged. Where exactly is this effluent intended to go, given that the City’s existing wastewater treatment plant is already operating at capacity and is strained to manage current demand, let alone accept additional waste from a facility of this scale? In addition, this raises concerns regarding potential impacts to local wetlands depending on the final disposal location,” the city wrote.
Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), though he said he is “aligned with the mission” of ICE, has asked DHS to evaluate the effects of the facility on Social Circle to avoid negative impacts on the city.
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“Talking with the local mayor and local officials down there, they don’t feel, which I agree with them, that it is a very good fit,” Collins said last month. “[DHS] needs to make sure that they take care of all the concerns of the local people there.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to ICE and DHS for comment.
