HARRISBURG, Pa. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is abandoning its plan to use two rural Pennsylvania warehouses to house thousands of people.

The plan had been slowed by the state’s denial of drinking water and wastewater permits, and an ICE attorney filed paperwork Wednesday withdrawing his agency’s appeal of the denial. The state had expressed concern that local water and wastewater services in rural Berks and Schuylkill counties were inadequate to serve the thousands of residents anticipated by the federal agency.

ICE did not say what, if anything, it would ultimately use the warehouses for.

But it told the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in a separate letter that it “has considered your ultimate use of this property and hereby informs DEP that you will not use this property as a detention center.”

The letter, dated last week, was released Wednesday by the DEP.

In a statement, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro said the warehouses “are not suitable for people and converting them into detention centers would have posed serious risks to the health, safety and infrastructure of surrounding communities.”

ICE had been purchasing warehouses across the United States as part of former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s $38 billion plan to rapidly expand detention capacity this year. However, it began backing away from that plan last month.

Noem’s purchases were largely made out of public view and angered communities that were caught off guard. Some local officials only learned of ICE’s ambitions after the agency purchased or rented space for detainees. After Noem was fired, her replacement, Markwayne Mullin, quickly halted purchases of new warehouses.