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Hermantown residents urge council to reconsider proposed ‘hyper‑scale’ data center, citing wastewater, emissions and transparency concerns
Summary
Multiple Hermantown residents told the city council the AUAR for a proposed hyper‑scale data center lacks sufficient environmental review, raising concerns about wastewater pretreatment (they cited 50,000 gallons per day), greenhouse‑gas estimates and electronic waste handling; residents also asked for greater transparency on project financing and noted ongoing litigation.
Residents opposed to a proposed hyper‑scale data center told the Hermantown City Council that the city’s current environmental review is inadequate and asked elected officials to bring the community more fully into project decisions.
At the general public‑comment portion of the meeting, several speakers outlined technical and procedural concerns about the AUAR (Alternative Urban Areawide Review) for the project. Ben Neeson said the AUAR lacks pretreatment plans for cooling‑system discharge and asserted that “50,000 gallons per day of domestic wastewater is gonna be treated at the Duluth wastewater treatment facility” without onsite pretreatment. He also challenged an emissions estimate in the AUAR, saying the report’s 18,248‑ton figure “is just…based on typical light industrial use” and not tied to an 1,800,000‑square‑foot data center. Neeson added that the AUAR does not explain how the project would handle electronic waste across a projected 50‑year operating life.
Other speakers made related appeals. Emma Rickman said the AUAR “is insufficient” and urged the council to require an Environmental Impact Statement to address the full scope and scale of the development. Sarah Lofold asked the council to include residents more directly in planning and proposed creating a citizens’ advisory council so the community “can advise you.” Clarissa Eck listed jurisdictions where local governments resisted similar projects, cited environmental vulnerabilities in the project area (wetlands, old‑growth forest, a designated trout stream) and said there are at least two active lawsuits against the city related to the data center.
Mayor Mary Boushey and staff responded only to some procedural questions at the meeting. When asked who is financing the data center, the mayor said that information is “not available at this time” and that staff would follow up after the meeting.
Why it matters: a hyper‑scale data center would be a large, long‑lived industrial presence with potential impacts on local water systems, wildlife and community land use; residents and technical commenters told the council that the AUAR’s current level of detail is insufficient to evaluate those impacts or to explain mitigation strategies.
What the speakers requested: commenters asked for (1) clearer disclosure about who is financially backing the project, (2) stronger environmental review (an EIS was suggested), (3) explicit plans for pretreatment of cooling discharge and management of electronic waste, and (4) stronger, ongoing community engagement.
What the council did: the meeting record shows councilors did not take legislative action on the data center at this session. The council moved on to the consent agenda and then considered a series of routine resolutions and contracts.
Claims and context: several speakers read specific page citations from the AUAR and offered numerical claims (for example, the 50,000‑gallons‑per‑day wastewater figure and the 18,248 tons CO2/year emissions estimate). These claims were made by residents during public comment and are presented here as their assertions; the council and staff did not provide an on‑the‑record technical rebuttal at the meeting.
Next step: no formal city action on the data center was recorded at this meeting; residents asked staff for follow‑up on financing information and for continued opportunities for community input.
