ALEXANDRIA, LOUISIANA — Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planning a short-term detention facility for migrant children and families at England Airpark, a former Louisiana air force base where groundwater contamination with PFAS chemicals has been measured at levels among the highest ever recorded in the United States. The lease for the site was being finalized, and the facility could become operational within 60 to 90 days.

ICE is proposing the center as a short-term facility next to a runway from which migrant families and unaccompanied children are flown out of the U.S. The site will confine family groups and children for between three and five days inside a converted military barracks and will only house those who voluntarily choose to "self-deport." The larger England Airpark complex holds a private GEO Group detention center.

PFAS levels in the groundwater at England Airpark have been found at at least 41 million parts per trillion, while federal drinking water limits for several PFAS compounds range from 4 to 10 parts per trillion. The contamination at the site has measured at least 575,000 times higher than those federal limits. The base is also contaminated with trichloroethylene and a range of volatile organic compounds.

PFAS are a class of at least 16,000 compounds typically used to make products that resist water, stains and heat. Called "forever chemicals" because they do not naturally break down, they accumulate in the body and are linked to cancer, kidney disease, liver problems, immune disorders, birth defects and other health problems. The compounds are a common ingredient in firefighting foam used at airports and military bases, and the Department of Defense is phasing out PFAS-containing foam after contamination at more than 770 military bases nationwide. Firefighting foam was used in training exercises around England Airpark, and the base also operated burn pits used to incinerate munitions, trash, human waste, toxic waste, plastic and other goods.

"There shouldn't be housing at contaminated bases and we need to be cleaning up this stuff much faster if we're going to put people in harm's way," said Jared Hayes, a senior policy analyst with the Environmental Working Group. Hayes said the military is not testing soil and air at the site.

Federal records do not indicate that PFAS cleanup has begun at England Airpark, and the military remains in its remedial investigation phase, which involves mapping the groundwater plume. A spokesperson with England Airpark said the PFAS pollution was not on the barrack site and did not respond to questions about whether it had tested air and soil.

"We have no new detention centers to announce at this time," the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and ICE did not respond to a request for comment.