A new joint status report filed in the State of Maryland’s lawsuit over the planned ICE detention warehouse in Williamsport reveals that contractor personnel met with Washington County Administrator Michelle Gordon and representatives from local utility companies on September 1 to discuss the facility’s utility requirements.
The facility’s utility needs have been a major concern from the beginning. Before DHS conducted its court-ordered environmental review, which never provided the studies for how they came to the conclusion that the facility would not have a noticeable impact on the environment or the environment, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) estimated that a 1,500-person detention facility could produce about 200,000 gallons of wastewater per day. MDE said that estimate, based on existing prisons, was more than seven times the projected wastewater flow from the warehouse’s prior commercial use.
The report was filed by the State of Maryland and the federal defendants in the ongoing case challenging DHS’s plan to convert the warehouse. In April, Judge Brendan Hurson issued a preliminary injunction barring construction and renovation at the warehouse for the purpose of operating it as a detention and processing facility while the lawsuit is pending. The order allows certain security and maintenance work to continue.
The new filing lists contractor work involving security cameras, network activity, cabling, a survey for a second fiber-optic circuit, an underground-conduit survey, landscaping, and work on government vehicles. It also says contractors were on site during the weeks of August 31 through September 4 and September 6 through 11 supporting “daily operations” as well as security-camera and network activities.
The County Administrator identified in the filing is Michelle A. Gordon. Before Washington County hired her as Chief Financial Officer in 2022 and elevated her to County Administrator in 2023, Gordon worked as Finance Director for the City of Hagerstown and later as Finance Director for Jefferson County, West Virginia. Her departure from Hagerstown followed allegations that she had misused funds, and the episode became a source of controversy when Jefferson County hired her. Gordon’s 2021 resignation from Jefferson County also followed disputes with elected officials who accused her of overreaching into their budget authority. She later sued Jefferson County officials, alleging defamation, whistleblower retaliation, and invasion of privacy; the claims against the Jefferson County Commission and sheriff were dismissed, and the dismissal was affirmed on appeal in 2025.
So naturally, Washington County then hired her as their chief financial officer.
Gordon also played a direct role in earlier County outreach around the ICE detention warehouse. In a February 11, 2026 letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Gordon said it was “imperative” for Washington County to open a dialogue with DHS about the facility’s infrastructure and operational needs, invited Noem and President Trump to meet with County administration, and wrote that the County looked forward to “partnering and working with DHS” on the project. The letter also described the warehouse’s sewer-capacity constraints and said the Wright Road Pump Station would require DHS to fund infrastructure improvements estimated at $750,000 to $1 million. The underlying County records are here, and our earlier reporting is here.
Washington County Commissioners have barred public comment related to the ICE detention center, depriving residents of the opportunity to publicly ask questions about a project that could affect the County’s utilities, infrastructure, waterways, emergency services, and ratepayers. Yet the County Administrator is now confirmed to have met with contractor personnel and local utility representatives about the facility’s requirements.
The public deserves to know which utilities were represented, what requirements were discussed, whether any County infrastructure could be affected, and why the Commissioners believe residents should be silenced while County officials continue meeting with the people working on DHS’s detention warehouse plan.
OMG! Thank you for this important investigative journalism! Without Rapid Response, the citizens of Washington County would have no way to understand the duplicity and lack of transparency of the members of the Washington County Council and their chosen Administrator. Vote them all OUT!! That is the power of the people in action!!!