Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Data Centers topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents press commission over data centers, citing water use, traffic and secrecy
Summary
Multiple Stateline Road and area residents urged the commission for transparency and study of proposed data centers, raising water-use estimates, road damage and privacy concerns; commissioners said local authority to stop projects is limited but pledged to seek mitigation details.
Several residents used the public-comment period to press the commission over proposed data-center projects near Stateline Road and other rural areas. Matt Alexander criticized commissioners' outreach and warned of long-term impacts, claiming the three proposed data centers could "use up about 50,000 people's worth of water" across the parishes and increase rents and utility costs. Alexander said corporate and official assurances felt like "carpetbagger capitalism" if residents' needs are sacrificed.
Other Stateline Road residents described personal impacts. Amanda Bison said she is not opposed to technology but said residents were not invited into conversations and described damaged local roads, reduced privacy and a sense that "progress" was being imposed without transparency. Tommy Bison said he was arrested while video-recording cemetery-area activity near a data-center site and alleged deputies accepted contractor employees' accounts over his evidence; he said he has retained counsel. Chair responded that local government has limited authority to stop data centers but that the commission is seeking environmental studies and mitigation requests and aims to "be honest about it."
