More than six weeks since the Bradford County Commission voted to move forward with a proposal to turn an unused warehouse in Starke into an ICE detention facility, the community has come together to protest, reach out to neighbors and gather information.
Anya Griffis is the coordinator for Protect Rural Florida in Bradford, a grassroots effort focused on keeping the community safe, water and land healthy and helping neighbors stay informed. Griffis said she hasn’t seen the commission move forward with any changes on the Douglas Warehouse property. She said this led her to question whether this area was the right site to house people.
“I want to make sure that the environmental reports have been done and people have really had a chance to look at it and make sure that this is what’s right, this is the right location and that this is what’s right for our county,” Griffis said.
She said she decided to do some digging after a couple in a neighborhood about a five-minute drive from the warehouse reached out to her expressing their environmental concerns. The couple lives on city water and had been notified of contamination on their property but wanted to know more.
What these public records revealed was that in 2012, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, or FDEP, notified property owners that groundwater contamination, identified as volatile organic compounds, coming from the Douglas Warehouse property, had spread to nearby properties. Nearly 30 entities were notified. The certified letter informed owners that they are not liable for causing the contamination, and the state was trying to clean the site.
“The above-referenced contamination site is being cleaned up under State-funded Cleanup,” according to the 2012 certified letter to homeowners.
Most of the same homes were contacted again at the beginning of 2026, notifying current property owners that those same volatile organic compounds had migrated to their property. The 2026 letter informed homeowners that a Remedial Action Plan (RAP) was submitted in May of 2011. But about 15 years later, those same contaminants are still found to be under the Douglas Warehouse property and under nearly 30 properties nearby.
Griffis said after pulling numerous public records, she reached out to the Board of County Commissioners, Sabot Consulting and the FDEP. Griffis said she only heard back directly from the FDEP and spoke with environmental administrator John Travis.
Michelle and Brad Green live in a nearby community that exists on city water where contaminants are present. The Greens reached out to John Travis on Jan. 16, 2026, after being notified in the five-year notice regarding the Douglas Warehouse that their property was in the temporary point of compliance boundary.
The couple wanted to understand what the presence of volatile organic compounds in groundwater means and requested more information on vapor intrusion risk assessments. Travis responded to the Greens, answering questions involving the Department of Management Services, the Starke site and vapor intrusion.
“Vapor intrusion (VI) can occur when contaminants including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in soil gas enter a building through plumbing access openings and cracks in concrete floors,” Travis wrote in an email on Feb. 3. “Buildings in areas with elevated VOCs in shallow surficial groundwater may be subject to VI.”
Travis explained how in 2018, the Florida Department of Health completed a Health Consultation and revealed that vapor intrusion was not a concern for the property because there was no contaminated shallow groundwater beneath it.
In that same report, it showed that nearby homes did not show any signs of contaminated shallow groundwater. This led the DOH to rule out vapor intrusion as a possible risk to homes in the area. Travis confirmed that because the DOH ruled out vapor intrusion as a risk to homeowners, no testing, such as indoor air sampling, soil-gas sampling or sub-slab vapor testing was done near residential homes.
“The 2018 report indicated that on-site areas with groundwater VOCs that are within the surficial aquifer could be a potential source for VI if the owner constructs new buildings over these areas,” Travis said.
The report also states that if new buildings are constructed on top of the contaminated areas, vapor intrusion could become a risk and it advises the property owner to have a mitigation plan in place to reduce potential risks and exposure. This information is based on a full report that was conducted seven years ago.
Nearby property owners, Michelle and Brad Green said their main concern is if this contamination site decides to undergo construction, that their property will then have risk of vapor intrusion, allowing the contaminants to migrate toward their home.
The Greens bought their house in April 2019 and were informed they were living on city water. After a year of living in Starke, workers with Arcadis, a consulting firm that works with water resources, appeared on the side of their property and began sampling their water through a well.
“They said the water had been contaminated some time back,” repeated Brad Green. “We come out and we test the water, just to see if it's safe or if there’s still chemicals in the ground,” said the Arcadis employees to Green.
He said that was the first time they had heard of contamination on their property, which was between six months to a year after moving into their Starke home. He said the Arcadis employees come twice a year to monitor the levels of contaminants, however, residents only receive a report every five years.
The most recent five-year report the Greens received was on Jan. 16, 2026. In the letter, the FDEP was informing residents that the contaminated groundwater on the Douglas Warehouse property has extended beyond there and onto the Greens and others properties. The letter stated the contaminants involved are volatile organic compounds or VOCs in groundwater.
Prior to the January report, the Greens said they were unaware there were any possible contaminants on their property because they weren’t using the well water that Arcadis tested. The Greens said they don’t recall receiving a letter or being informed by the City of Starke or Arcadis that there were contaminants on their property until receiving a letter on Jan. 16.
The Jan. 16 letter stated that in 2011, a remedial action plan was submitted to remediate and monitor the compounds. In 2012, the former owner of the house was notified that contamination had migrated under the property.
Then in 2017, the former property owner was notified. In every letter, the FDEP mentioned monitoring this property and while contaminant levels have decreased, levels are still present at the site.
For nearly 15 years, the FDEP has been monitoring the contamination of volatile organic compounds in groundwater at the site of the Douglas Warehouse and underneath properties nearby. The Greens want to know what the FDEP means by “monitoring.”
“We think monitoring means they come out every six months and test our water,” Brad Green said. “I don’t know of any action to clean it up,” Michelle Green said.
The Greens reached out to all five of the Bradford County commissioners and the Starke City Manager, Drew Mullins, regarding the information revealed in the Jan. 16 report. The Greens said none of the commissioners nor the city manager replied to their emails. Instead, the Greens heard back from Bradford County Sheriff Gordon Smith.
“Please be assured that Bradford County will rely on appropriate environmental professionals and state regulatory agencies to determine what assessments are necessary for any proposed use of the site," Smith said in his email back to the Greens. “Decisions will be guided by verified science, regulatory standards and transparency with the public.”
While the city of Starke does not vote on the county’s lease approval, the city does reserve the right to approve utilities and water. Mullins was asked if the city has done any research or requested a capacity analysis to determine whether the current water and wastewater systems can support a 3,000-bed detention facility without impacting existing residents.
“Our engineers are working on preliminary numbers for what we believe needs are,” Mullins responded in an email. “Until the county acts and other parties become involved, I don’t know the actual needs for the proposed facility.”
Bradford County resident, Carol Mosley, said she constantly writes emails back and forth to administrators and commissioners in Bradford County. Mosley spoke at the Feb. 3 meeting, but did not speak on the contamination. She spoke in regards to her concerns of bringing an ICE detention facility into her county and how it would affect others nearby.
“The community is starting to come together,” Mosley said. “The community is really jumping into action here on this one.”
Mosley said there will be two painting parties on March 7 and 8 to repurpose old campaign signs and paint them into yard signs to protest the facility.
The next Bradford County Commission meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 3, at 9:30 a.m. The agenda has not yet been posted. According to Florida statute, an agenda shall be prepared by the agency at least seven days prior to the event, except in the case of emergency meetings. It is not confirmed whether a vote to move forward with the ICE proposal will take place at the meeting on March 3.