SURPRISE — The city of Surprise is studying emergency risks around a proposed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility, including its location across the street from a chemical and gas storage warehouse, ABC15 reported.
Opponents have pointed for months to the nearby Rinchem warehouse. Brent Peak, co-chair of Northwest Valley Indivisible, said one modeled scenario involves a 2.7-mile toxic cloud of hydrogen chloride that could affect more than 73,000 people.
“If you got 1,500 people locked up right across the street, they cannot” evacuate on their own, Peak said, questioning how the Department of Homeland Security and contractor GardaWorld would respond.
City Councilman Patrick Duffy requested the review in June after hearing the concern raised repeatedly at public meetings. “I’m looking at this like … this is a safety issue,” Duffy said, adding that he wants to keep immigration politics out of it.
The review looks at how prepared the city is for an emergency at the chemical facility, and its findings could factor into the ongoing debate over the detention center.
Sources: ABC15. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: RandomMainstream / CC0 via Wikimedia Commons.
