Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown is suing the Department of Homeland Security to stop the construction of an immigrant detention facility in western Maryland.

In the suit, Attorney General Anthony Brown says the White House is moving ahead with the conversion of a more than 825,000 square foot facility without conducting proper environmental assessments or asking for public comment.

“A facility this size would generate nearly four times more wastewater than the site was designed for, risking sewage overflows on the property and backups throughout the surrounding community, increased traffic, air quality impacts and the burden of local emergency services were never assessed,” Brown said in a statement.

The allegations echo what residents in the small town of Williamsport, where the building is located, and in nearby Hagerstown, have been concerned about.

Brown also alleges that DHS violated the Administrative Procedure Act by acting without explanation or any consideration of alternatives.

“We're asking the court to halt construction and operation of this facility. We're asking the court to require a proper environmental review with full public input, and we're asking the court to declare that what the administration did here was unlawful,” Brown said.

The facility has been a hotbed for controversy since DHS bought it in late January for $102 million.

Gov. Wes Moore wrote a letter to DHS expressing concern about the Washington County facility and the conditions of the facility in Baltimore.

U.S. Representative April McClain Delaney, (D-Md.) who represents Washington County, introduced legislation to block ICE from establishing the detention center.

“For DHS to pursue such sweeping and dangerous plans in darkness is yet another example of the Trump Administration acting without transparency, accountability, or regard for human life. I recently saw for myself ICE’s horrendous treatment of detainees at its Baltimore field office, and I refuse to remain silent as they thrust a facility–similar to a private prison–upon Washington County,” McClain Delaney said. “I will fight alongside Maryland lawmakers and community members to show up, speak out, and stand resolute in defense of all of our neighbors.”

Washington County residents have been pushing back against the facility since news of its procurement.

A petition asking Washington County Commissioner President John Barr and his peers on the panel to withdraw their support for the building has garnered thousands of signatures.

Protests have become commonplace. During the county commissioners’ meeting on Feb. 10, chants could be heard from outside the building. The commissioners shut the meeting down after protestors objected to a lack of public forum.

Claire Connor is part of Washington County Indivisible, a group opposing ICE in the county and the development of an immigration detention center.

“The biggest concern is simply the fact that there was absolutely no communication, no transparency about what was happening, and that we've been evaded at every opportunity when seeking a response from the county commissioners as to what's happening,” Connor said. “The real world implications of what is going to happen when you round up thousands of individuals, you cram them into spaces unfit to inhabit life, and what it will mean economically for our region, I think once that is realized, there will be people singing a different tune.”

Patrick Dattilo started the Hagerstown Rapid Response Network, a resistance organization, after hearing about the facility.

“We've got people across both borders, in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, over the mountains into Frederick and Montgomery County,” Dattilo said.

The facility sits at the crossroads of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania and is part of a larger DHS plan to open ICE detention centers across the nation that could hold about 85,000 immigrants.

According to DHS records obtained by CBS less than 14% of people arrested by ICE have violent records. DHS repeatedly claimed that ICE crackdowns are primarily to target “dangerous and violent individuals.”

About 40% have no criminal record. Another 30% are nonviolent crimes. About 6% were related to “dangerous drugs.” Another 8% were driving under the influence infractions.

Of the 14% who were charged with violent crimes, 11% had to do with assault and 1.4% with sexual assault. People charged with homicides and kidnapping made up less than 1%. Less than 2% had gang affiliations.

Private prison companies like CoreCivic are reporting massive revenue increases through contracts with DHS.

The company is seeing nearly a quarter of billion dollars in revenue from four sites alone.