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Two environmental organizations have filed legal petitions with the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board in order to challenge the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from constructing immigrant detention centers in warehouses in Berks and Schuylkill counties.

In early March, Gov. Josh Shapiro issued administrative orders through the state Department of Environmental Protection blocking DHS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s access to water and sewage systems at both facilities.

The Delaware Riverkeeper Network and Green Amendments For The Generations are now requesting standing to intervene on DHS’s appeal of those orders.

The detention centers, which together would hold up to 9,000 people, would overwhelm sewage facilities and exceed available drinking water supply, said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper with the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and founder of Green Amendments For The Generations.

“The result will be people potentially denied drinking water, streams overwhelmed with pollution, fire companies potentially unable to access the water they need to respond to a fire emergency, and irreversible harm to the water resources and natural environments important to local residents for their quality of life, enjoyment of their property, and recreational joys of life,” van Rossum said in a statement.

She said that the “known lack of water and sewage infrastructure” in the area of the facilities could result in “dangerous and inhumane conditions for the detainees, while at the same time harming the surrounding communities.”

DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The organizations are seeking to provide evidence and legal arguments in the case.

Throughout the Delaware Valley, opponents of DHS’s plans to convert warehouses into ICE detention centers have cited environmental concerns.

In February, commissioners in Bucks County voted unanimously to oppose the use of warehouses in the county for immigrant detention centers, noting the strain that such facilities would place on local water and sewage systems.

New Jersey immigrant rights activists have said a planned detention center at a warehouse in Roxbury Township is poised to be an “environmental disaster” due to projected impacts on drinking water supply and potential sewage overflows.