By Ryan Fatica and David Taylor
Southern Arizona – Starting Tuesday, along I-10 in Southern Arizona, observant commuters may have noticed a peculiar uptick in the interstate’s westbound traffic — dozens, maybe even hundreds, of empty shipping containers were hauled one-by-one down the highway.
From unincorporated land in Cochise County to the Arizona State Prison Complex in the southern reaches of Tucson, this curious cavalcade marked what may be the next phase of the monthslong saga that has resulted in the destruction of miles of Southern Arizona wilderness and has cost the State of Arizona over $108 million dollars for what amounts to four miles of discarded scrap metal.
Since the project began in late October, workers have feverishly placed hundreds of shipping containers along the Arizona/Sonora border in Southern Cochise County, forming a precarious barrier and a gash through this otherwise pristine stretch of encinal or oak grassland.
Workers have been staging the containers in an unincorporated area of Cochise County, halfway between Whetstone and Huachuca City off Arizona State Highway 90 (31°40’21.2″N 110°20’58.6″W). The 88-acre plot of land is owned by the James and Jennifer Douglass Family Revocable Trust, according to Cochise County land records.
Although Governor Doug Ducey’s office did not respond to a request for comment about the site, the aggregation of hundreds of shipping containers at this location in the midst of the massive operation along the border strongly suggests that the site is linked to the project. The site lies 20 miles south of I-10, making it a convenient location for amassing the containers before moving them to the border.
On Wednesday, Dec. 14, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in federal court against the State of Arizona over the shipping containers, which it says “violate federal law, present serious public safety risks and environmental harms, and interfere with federal agencies’ ability to carry out their official duties.” This lawsuit marks the first significant response by federal authorities to the project.
In an official response to the DOJ’s notice of intent to file legal action submitted on Dec. 12, Governor Ducey’s office announced on Dec. 13 that “construction” of the shipping container barrier “has ceased,” which appears to correspond with the mass exodus of shipping containers from the storage site.
Leave a Reply