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Hood County residents press for moratorium on data centers; commissioners split, tighten conditions on Comanche Circle
Summary
More than 20 residents told the Hood County Commissioners Court on Feb. 10 that proposed multi‑hundred‑acre data‑center campuses and companion gas power plants threaten wells, the Paluxy and Brazos watersheds, county air quality and property values. The court debated a proposed moratorium, failed to adopt a broad moratorium order, and later approved stricter conditions for the Comanche Circle concept plan.
Hood County residents filled the commissioners' courtroom on Feb. 10 to urge the court to pause approval of large data centers and associated gas‑fired power plants until independent studies address water, wastewater, air and noise impacts.
Speakers representing multigenerational landowners, local conservation groups and medical professionals told the court they fear projects sited near the Paluxy Valley will deplete wells, discharge contaminated cooling blowdown into the watershed and expose neighbors to hazardous air pollutants. "We just need the water and the quality air," said Diana Wright, whose family has lived in the Paluxy Valley for five generations. Pediatrician Dr. Shannon Watts warned of asthma, cardiovascular and cancer risks tied to emissions from combustion turbines used to back up data centers.
The court considered an…
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