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Hundreds of Salem residents press council over Verus data‑center plan and secret NDA
Summary
More than five hours of public comment focused on a proposed Verus (Oak Line/Mill Creek) data center: residents raised concerns about a year‑long nondisclosure agreement, water use, noise, health and tribal cultural sites. Council directed staff to study NDA limits and created a task force to draft policy by year‑end.
Hundreds of residents turned out July 27 to urge the Salem City Council to block or slow a proposed data center by Verus at the Mill Creek Corporate Center, repeatedly criticizing a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) the city had entered with the company during a confidential exploratory phase.
"Negotiating the Oak Line project in secret since March 2025 subverted democratic transparency," said Hannah Hendricks, a Salem resident who urged the council to ban corporate NDAs and to place a strict administrative pause on Oak Line processing until a task force completes recommendations.
Speakers filed a long list of technical and civic concerns: peak and routine water demand and whether closed‑loop cooling simply shifts impacts elsewhere; battery 1st backup claims vs. standby diesel generators and generator testing schedules; low‑frequency noise and community health impacts; electricity load and grid reliability; and the adequacy of promised community benefits and job counts (Verus has cited roughly 75 permanent jobs and a multibillion‑dollar private investment).
Kristen Rutherford, the city’s community planning and development director, told council the city has not received a formal land‑use application and that statements from the company so far should be treated as claims rather than verified findings. "As of today, the land use or development application has not been submitted to the city," Rutherford said, noting the NDA was signed in March 2025 and the city was released from it on July 8, 2026.
After public testimony and staff briefings, council voted to direct staff to study options to prohibit the city from signing NDAs for future data‑center proposals and to form a community task force (including council members, citizens, union representatives and workforce development) to hold town halls and draft a policy by Dec. 31, 2026. The council passed both measures on roll call.
