DAVIS, W.Va. — A strong showing of opposition for plans to construct a massive data center and the plant to power it in the Tucker County town of Davis. According to Davis Mayor Al Tomson more than 300 turned out for a public hearing before the DEP’s office of air quality on a permit application for the new facility. Thompson said nobody was there to support the facility.
“There were no people that said, ‘Build the data plant because I want worse air quality.’ Every single person, between 100 and 150 people that actually spoke were concerned with the effects of the air emissions associated with the power plant,” Tomson said in a conversation on MetroNews Talkline.
Virginia based Fundamental Data has applied for the air permit from the DEP for what it has labeled the “Ridgeline Facility.” The proposed plans seem to indicate a desire for a natural gas power plant to be located between Davis and Thomas. Thompson said that is the wrong place for any kind of an industrial facility.
“Think about the fact that a large, industrial power plant is being built right next to one of the most popular tourist destinations in West Virginia with Blackwater Falls, Canaan Valley and that whole area,” Tomson said.
He credited the DEP for being willing to hear out the locals who wanted to voice concerns. The meeting was supposed to last from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. It ended up lasting until midnight and every single person who wished to speak was allowed to air their concerns. Whether those will be heard remains to be seen. Thompson worried they aren’t hearing the entire plan.
“When they talk about building a data center, they’re not talking about one data center. This power plant has enough capacity to do 100 to 150 data centers. Think of these massive things that are the size of two to four Super Wal-Marts as one data center scattered throughout the area around Davis, it would totally change the atmosphere, the look and feel of what we have today,” he said.
Tomson’s concerns may be well grounded. In May, officials with Fundamental Data told the Wall Street Journal the entire complex would comprise close to 10,000 across Tucker and even parts of Grant County if fully developed. If the project was fully implemented, it would be the largest data center in the world company officials told the Journal.
“I think it’s an uphill battle,” Tomson admitted. “But in the past the DEP has worked with the company, I’ve asked them to work with the people and try to support our concerns and our needs just as much as they do the industrial side of the equation. So that they hear our voice, recognize our concerns, and they actually do some of the things that would put our minds at ease or say this permit is not the right thing at this location.”
Tomson said from what he can tell, Fundamental Data has an option to buy the property where it proposes to build the plant, but so far has not pulled the trigger and is awaiting the outcome of the permit application before going forward with the land sale.