SALT LAKE CITY — Businessman Kevin O'Leary, the force behind the controversial Box Elder County data center proposal, has agreed to cut the project area in half, from around 40,000 acres to around 20,000 acres.
Details of reduced project area
In a letter Thursday to Utah Senate President Stuart Adams, O'Leary said he'd remove two of the three proposed project areas from the data center initiative, one measuring around 19,430 acres in the Locomotive Springs area, another measuring around 620 acres abutting I-84. That would leave the third, more southeasterly parcel in the Hansel Valley, measuring around 20,000 acres.
“We agreed to remove the 19,000-plus in Locomotive and the 600 or so by the highway,” said Paul Palandjian, chief executive officer of O'Leary Digital, chaired by O'Leary and the business entity pursuing the initiative. “I think (that) addresses a lot of people's concerns.”
Addressing concerns through land reduction
On Monday, Adams called for a dramatic reduction in the project expanse, from 40,000 acres to 10,000 acres. He also called for the use of the latest technology to reduce the project's water consumption and to capture the heat it generates, among the chief concerns of project opponents.
As Palandjian now envisions it, the data center and proposed power-generation facilities serving it would take up around 10,000 acres, with another 10,000 or so acres around it being “preserved” land. “If you want to reconcile it with what President Adams had asked for, it's effectively getting him what he wanted,” Palandjian said.
Senator Adams reviewing the proposal
A spokeswoman for Adams said the senator was reviewing O'Leary's response and would likely issue a formal reaction later Thursday.
Commitment to water conservation technology
In the letter, O'Leary also committed to using the latest technology to conserve water and working with state environmental regulators, echoing prior comments and promises.
Economic benefits versus environmental risks
The data center plans are touted by proponents as key to national security and an economic development driver. Over the long haul, the data center facilities — called the Stratos Project Area — would be accompanied by the development of up to 9 gigawatts of power-generation capacity to serve them.
Critics worry the data center operation would adversely impact air quality and tax already dwindling water supplies, placing additional pressure on the Great Salt Lake, already drying. They also say the proposal hasn't received enough study and was rushed.
Legal challenges and local opposition
On Wednesday, opponents of the project filed suit to challenge the decision rejecting their efforts to force a vote on the future of two Box Elder County measures allowing the proposal to proceed.
Box Elder County commissioners approved resolutions 26-11 and 26-12 on May 4, despite the opposition of many, paving the way for the project. The action followed approval on April 24 of four other resolutions and a tax ordinance key to project development by Utah's Military Installation Development Authority, or MIDA, a state entity that's teaming with O'Leary Digital in the initiative.
