The private prison company that operates an immigration detention facility northeast of Los Angeles violated federal law by misusing a chemical disinfectant spray that caused detainees to experience nosebleeds, burning eyes, nausea and headaches, according to an Environmental Protection Agency report.
The EPA issued the report and a warning notice Monday to the GEO Group, a Florida-based company that runs the nearly 2,000-bed Adelanto ICE Detention Facility and more than a dozen other detention centers on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The EPA’s investigation found that staff and detainees were instructed to apply HDQ Neutral, a pesticide, inside the facility as often as every 30 minutes, without proper ventilation and at a dilution rate of 2 ounces per gallon of water — double the concentration allowed for disinfectant use.
ICE declined to comment. GEO Group spokesman Christopher Ferreira said HDQ Neutral was always used at the Adelanto facility in accordance with the manufacturer’s guidelines. He said a different product is now being used there.
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