Residents press county committee for clearer answers on water, wastewater, grid and e‑waste tied to proposed data center
Loading...
Summary
Public commenters and committee members pressed for detailed site‑specific answers about cooling water, wastewater permits, wastewater disposal, groundwater risk, grid reliability and e‑waste handling before the county advances the Sabey data center project.
Residents and experts at the Butte‑Silver Bow ad hoc committee meeting urged county staff and Sabey to provide specific technical details on water use, wastewater handling, grid impacts and e‑waste to ensure local wells, emergency services and long‑term reclamation needs are protected.
What residents asked: multiple public commenters asked how closed‑loop cooling would operate in practice, how maintenance fluids would be handled, and whether any residual water could reach private wells or the aquifer. Committee members and staff described the proposed design intent: a closed‑loop cooling system with maintenance fluids captured and shipped off‑site for treatment, and an evaporative spray system used only when ambient temperatures exceed about 80°F; the presenters said the design aims to avoid surface discharge and that specific permitting decisions (discharge permits, industrial waste permits) will be determined during design and permitting.
On wastewater and permitting: planning and public‑works staff outlined the RM2 heavy‑industrial permitting pathway, which brings together planning, public works, fire marshal, building codes and state agencies for air quality, vibration, lighting, sewage and other approvals. Staff said metro wastewater plant staff previously discussed how industrial and sanitary flows are handled and that definitive permitting decisions will appear in design documents.
Other demands: the public asked for clarity on e‑waste handling (who recycles servers and how they are tracked), potential requirements for reclamation bonds in case of abandonment, and the county’s approach to grid reliability and emergency prioritization during outages. Committee members said local regulatory levers exist for landfill and disposal rules, noted that reclamation bond policies would be a separate discussion, and agreed to add e‑waste and wastewater stream clarifications to the slide deck and the public website.
Expert input: Laurie Zandrish, a former Microsoft global environmental‑health‑and‑safety manager, described workforce and training benefits from data‑center clusters and confirmed rapid equipment turnover (roughly five years) and the need for reputable e‑waste vendors.
Next steps: the committee directed staff to collect and publish definitive technical answers — including whether a discharge permit would be required, how industrial discharges would flow to metro treatment, and whether capture/transport arrangements for maintenance fluids are contractually defined — as part of the materials to present to the council.
