Local group MADCAT forms to oppose proposed Bonner data center, cites water, heat and noise risks

Colette and Lizzy, volunteers and media spokespeople for MADCAT (Montanans Against Data Centers Action Team), told the Missoula County Democrats' recorded discussion that the newly formed group opposes a proposed AI/data center at the Bonner mill site and urged residents to get involved.

"We are just like a nonpartisan group of Montanans here in the community who wanted to come together and take a stand against what's happening in Bonner," one of the speakers said, describing MADCAT as a volunteer-driven coalition that formed in the weeks before the recording. She said about 50 people attended a recent general meeting and that a "few dozen" residents now participate in working groups.

MADCAT members laid out several technical and environmental concerns. They said recent studies of very large data facilities have recorded a local 'heat island' effect — increases of land-surface temperature cited in the conversation in the low single digits up to the low double digits Fahrenheit in extreme cases — and cautioned that AI-focused facilities use substantially more electricity and water for cooling than traditional server farms.

"They're proposing to build this like industrial facility 200 yards from a school," one speaker said, adding worries about continuous high- and low-frequency noise near an elementary school and potential impacts on wildlife. The guests also said the company proposing the project had not disclosed the chemical composition of its cooling system or a plan for treating contaminated water.

Speakers said the company (named in the discussion as 'Cranoo') initially applied for a 7-megawatt permit but indicated plans to expand to 29 megawatts, and that the county had returned the application multiple times for insufficient information. The guests added the project would require grid energy and a backup diesel generator that would run periodically for testing, raising additional local emissions and noise concerns.

On jobs and economic benefits, MADCAT volunteers pushed back on simple growth narratives. "The amount of jobs they create is pretty limited," one speaker said, noting Missoula's local economy depends in part on outdoor recreation and a healthy Blackfoot River. They also warned that large corporate investment in AI has produced mixed financial results and that automation can reduce job counts in other sectors.

MADCAT urged residents to take civic steps: attend a general meeting (they listed a meeting on the 28th at GoodWorks on Alder Street), submit public comment on the county permitting process, and sign a Change.org petition titled "Reject permits for the AI data center in Bonner, Montana." The guests said the group was building a website and social channels.

The hosts noted county permitting has involved repeated applications and said listeners should verify details with Missoula County's permitting portal. The conversation made clear many technical details — including precise maximum annual water use, the cooling chemicals to be used, and the company's long-term power procurement plan — remained unresolved in the public record at the time of the recording.

Next procedural steps reported by MADCAT include upcoming public meetings, continued working-group organizing, and collection of public comments to the county record. The hosts and guests encouraged listeners to consult county filing pages for permitting status and to monitor MADCAT's announced channels for volunteer opportunities.