Today marked an important milestone in our legal battle to halt environmental harm caused by a mass detention center in the heart of the Everglades.
Judge Kathleen Williams granted a 14-day temporary restraining order requested by Friends of the Everglades and our partners. That means new construction — including filling, paving, installation of new infrastructure and lighting — must stop immediately at “Alligator Alcatraz.”
The judge’s decision followed two days of testimony from experts who detailed harm posed by industrial lighting and at least 20 acres of new pavement built on the site, among other impacts to the land and water within Big Cypress National Preserve.
“We’re pleased that the judge saw the urgent need to put a pause on additional construction, and we look forward to advancing our ultimate goal of protecting the unique and imperiled Everglades ecosystem from further damage caused by this mass detention facility,” said Eve Samples, executive director at Friends of the Everglades.
This is a step in the right direction, but our work continues. We will be back in court Tuesday, arguing for a temporary injunction. It’s clear the state and federal governments failed to follow the law, moving forward without the environmental studies required by the National Environmental Policy Act to protect this nationally significant landscape.
These public lands are especially sacred to us. Marjory Stoneman Douglas founded Friends of the Everglades in 1969 specifically to protect this part of the Everglades from development of a massive airport. We won then — stopping construction in 1970 after a single runway was built — and we are determined to prevail today.
We are grateful to our Friends of the Everglades community for bravely standing with us in this historic moment.
