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Residents urge county to scrutinize data‑center impacts as public comment flags EPA draft permit
Summary
During public comment at the March 5 Washington County commissioners meeting, residents warned that a draft Ohio EPA permit could allow data centers to discharge heated, untreated water harmful to fish and urged protection of farmland from data‑center development.
Residents and local advocates used the March 5 public‑comment period to press commissioners about environmental and land‑use concerns tied to data centers.
Barbara Stewart told the board that “the Ohio EPA has issued a draft permit to allow data centers to release untreated water,” adding that the heated discharge removes oxygen from receiving waters and is harmful to fish. Jennifer Duskey said those environmental impacts outweigh the short‑term construction jobs data centers bring and urged protection of farmland.
Engineer’s Office staff also raised operational concerns in the meeting: Emily Griffin told the board that the county’s natural gas rate this month is double last year’s level and asked whether county buildings within the city of Marietta could join the county’s gas aggregation program to reduce costs.
Commissioners did not take immediate regulatory action at the meeting in response to the data‑center comments; the items were recorded as part of public comment and departmental updates. No representative from the Ohio EPA or a data‑center developer responded during the session.
What was said - Barbara Stewart (resident): “The Ohio EPA has issued a draft permit to allow data centers to release untreated water.” - Jennifer Duskey (resident): “The concerns about data centers outweigh the initial temporary construction jobs.” - Emily Griffin (Engineer’s Office): noted current natural gas rates are higher than last year and asked whether county buildings in Marietta could join the county aggregation program.
What’s next The comments were recorded in the meeting minutes; any follow‑up (requests for staff research, formal correspondence with state regulators or development proposals) would require a future agenda item or staff action.
