Report

PRIVATE DETENTION FACILITY, PINAL COUNTY, ARIZONA (DRAFT SUPPLEMENT TO THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT OF MAY 2001). Part 1 of 1

2003

Overview

PURPOSE: The construction and operation of a 3,000-bed pre-trial detention facility in Pinal County, Arizona to house prisoners being processed by the U.S. Marshalls Service are proposed. The facilities would serve detainees under the jurisdiction the federal courts and Phoenix and Tucson presiding over the southwestern U.S. and experiencing a high level of Marshall Service activity. The Service has experienced a shortage of beds for over two years. The detention facility would be owned and operated by a private contractor. The final EIS of May 2001 provided for a contract to cover a 2,000-bed facility, along with the possible award of a second contract for an additional 2,000 beds. However, bedspace needs have grown at a rate exceeding earlier projections, necessitating the immediate award of a single contract for 3,000 beds. A No Action Alternative and two alternative sites are considered in this draft supplemental EIS. The two sites are an undeveloped parcel of land in the city of Eloy and the existing Arizona Detention Center in Florence. Selection of the Eloy site would result in the purchase of a 160-acre tract on the northwest corner of Arica and La Palma roads by a private corrections contractor for the development of a 33-acre detention compound. The facility would include housing for male and female detainees as well as administrative and ancillary support buildings. The existing Arizona Detention Center, which is already contractor operated, is located on a 43-acre site, 37 acres of which are contained within a security fence. The Florence facility, which is the preferred alternative, has been in operation since 1994 and consists of nine housing units, 7.75 of which would be designated for Marshall Service use. The site address is 1155 North Pinal Parkway, Florence. POSITIVE IMPACTS: The current overcrowding affecting Marshalls Service detention facilities would be relieved, and the number of beds provided would also allow consolidation of Service activities in a single location. Construction and/or operation of the facility would provide substantial employment opportunities to residents of the affected local community as well as other economic benefits from expenditures associated with the facility. NEGATIVE IMPACTS: Construction of a new facility at the Eloy site would result in the displacement of desert land and vegetation. Operation of either facility would result in increased use of utility services, increased traffic in the vicinity of the site, increased noise levels, and emission of air pollutants. Cultural resources at the Eloy site could be affected. All impacts would be less than significant. LEGAL MANDATES: Judiciary Act of 1789. PRIOR REFERENCES: For the abstracts of the draft and final EISs, see 01-0069D, Volume 25, Number 1, and 01-0338F, Volume 25, Number 3, respectively. For the abstract of the draft supplemental EIS, see 03-0235D, Volume 27, Number 2.

• Subject: Air Quality / Arizona / Cultural Resources Surveys / Employment / Floodplains / Geologic Assessments / Hazardous Wastes / Judiciary Act of 1789, Compliance / Land Use / Prisons / Soils / Visual Resources