An area near Gibbons Creek, which once housed a power plant, could be the future home of a new data center project.
Watch the full story here:
I recently reported on a proposed data center between Iola and Bedias. But as it turns out, that is not the only one in development. Millennium Power wants to put a data center at the site of the former Gibbons Creek Steam Electric Station, and the possibility has some neighbors worried.
"They need to stand up for us. They need to be out there having public forums, bringing us in," Jennifer Rymer said.
"Locals are really concerned about the electric grid. We already know that that's under strain," Julie Hernandez said.
Hernandez is with Grimes County Citizens for Responsible Development.
"There are options, and they need to consider those, and they need to put that in the forefront of what they're doing and have that as a long-term plan so that they are not impacting our water table," Rymer said.
There are also concerns in the community about the noise, especially infrasound. Infrasound is a low-frequency sound that humans cannot hear, but it can affect people and animals.
"Anxiety, it can create, you know, nervousness, it can create this feeling of dread and just unease. So that's one of the things that data centers are big on producing is this, this noise pollution, right? And it's 24/7," Dean Wiley said.
I spoke with a county official who said there are a number of regulations put into place over the past two years which may help. These include new infrastructure regulations, environmental regulations, and an adopted international residential code.
According to state law, counties are not allowed to enact data center or solar farm regulations. They fall under regular commercial permitting.
As the process plays out, some locals are looking to elected leaders to do what is best for the county.
"Help protect all the things that we all need, uh, fresh air, water, you know, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," Hernandez said.
A county official said that a permit is required to build in the county, and these projects have not applied for any permits yet.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
