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Residents urge Hermantown council to pause proposed hyperscale data center, cite health, water and transparency concerns
Summary
Dozens of residents told the Hermantown City Council they oppose a proposed hyperscale data center, asking for a pause, health-impact assessments and greater transparency; speakers cited Minnesota legislation HF 16, generator pollution risks and NDAs that limited public information.
Dozens of residents urged the Hermantown City Council on Feb. 28 to delay or halt plans for a proposed hyperscale data center, saying the project threatens local water resources, public health and community trust.
"I live at 5369 Morris Thomas Road, Hermantown, Minnesota about, 2 and 3 quarters mile from the proposed data center," Joanne Bates told the council, saying state law (HF 16) "does not do enough to protect me" and asking the council to put the Hermantown data center on hold "until we have a process to hold them accountable."
Several speakers cited environmental and health risks. Rebecca Gilbertson highlighted backup diesel generators that would run during outages and said fine particulate matter from those generators is linked to increased respiratory and cardiovascular disease. Clarissa Eck asked the council for a formal health impact assessment, citing a report she said was compiled by Community and Environmental Defense Services founder Richard Klein and saying a single data center could pose negative health risks to residents at least 0.6 miles away.
Other commenters focused on process. Sarah Lofold and Emma Richtman criticized the city's transparency, complaining that nondisclosure agreements and staff communications limited public access to material and that changes to zoning language expanding "light industrial" to include data centers happened without adequate public input. "The lack of transparency certainly leads to a lack of trust," Richtman said, and said residents had sought a two‑year moratorium at the state level but were told to leave decisions to local governments.
Not all speakers opposed the project outright. Nate Ricard, who said he is a union trades member, acknowledged the controversy but suggested a developer-provided plan that demonstrably benefits Hermantown could be constructive: "If it is done correctly, it could be something that helps us."
Speakers also raised specific factual concerns referenced in state and national reporting: potential water use above thresholds noted in HF 16, tax-exemption policies for data center equipment, land purchases by private owners near proposed sites, and emotional toll on nearby residents. Several commenters asked the council to prioritize residents over economic incentives: "Please put people over profit," Clarissa Eck said.
The council took no policy action on the data center during the meeting; the public comment period closed before the council moved to appointments and routine resolutions.
