Commissioners hear more concerns on AI data centers

For the second week in a row, it was standing room only during the Ozark County Commissioners meeting Monday morning as more county residents voiced their concerns about the possibility of AI data centers being built in the county. 

The biggest concerns raised? The environmental impact on the county and what can be done to stay ahead of any possible data centers in the county.

“I think we just share similar concerns about the environmental impact, social impact, etc,” said Brian Haenke, who spoke first. “I spent 30 years with Hewlett-Packard as a network engineer, and part of that included working in data centers, so I’m not unfamiliar with the technologies and with the background. 

“Of course it’s changed a lot since my day in that area. I can’t necessarily articulate all the…opposition against it, but I know that I would I feel that the powers that be who are hosting this meeting [referencing a June 17 meeting hosted by the Governor and with several large tech companies in attendance]... are certainly going to be proponents of it and offer lots of reasons why it’s a good idea. But I think there are many other reasons that probably can be articulated to oppose [building large data centers]. And I’m concerned about our environment, about our land out here and the impact.” 

The others in attendance agreed.

Suzanne Smythe, a homesteader-farmer with a master’s degree in biochemistry, raised additional concerns about the environmental impact a data center might create. Smythe said her degree “opened my eyes to the impacts of some of the things that we were doing that not only affect the environment, but the permanent effects, the long never-gonna-go-away effects.

“I have very strong strong feelings, and I’ve watched the research. I’ve followed it, and the one thing that I noticed when I was working on my master’s degree is that what the people that fund those studies are proponents of [are] things that aren’t good for us,” she continued. “So the only balanced studies were a lot of European studies. They’re way ahead of us in this area. We have a lot of work to do.

“I’m just concerned because one of the reasons we moved here was [that] it’s kind of like the last frontier…I’m going to stand up against [the data centers] because I don’t think people are educated enough to know what they’re really allowing [to be built in the counties] and the ramifications - long, long-standing ramifications. We’re already seeing it,” Smythe said. “Somebody’s got to care. I have grandchildren, hopefully great-grandchildren. I have animals. And I love the land…Somebody has to care and stand up and say ‘don’t buy the lies. It’s all about money. It’s not progress.’”

“Just to make sure we’re all on the same page can we squash any ideas that there may be [a data center] that’s planning to come here,” said Ozark County Clerk Brian Wise. “We just want to make sure we’re all on the same page and say that there are no plans. We’ve not heard of anything.” 

“I think a lot of this [speaking to the commissioners] is proactive,” said Billy Schoelles.

The commissioners told the residents they understood their concerns but stressed that at the moment there is very little that can be done to stop any AI data center from being built in Ozark County if a large company wanted to build one.

“The way it is now…[companies] don’t have to approach us at all because…we don’t have planning and zoning [regulations],” Presiding Commissioner Terry Newton said, referring to a government agency developed and implemented in many other areas that allows the local government there to restrict and control the development of all private land. In Missouri, voters would need to go to the ballot box to approve implementing planning and zoning, and officials have said past attempts on the ballot have failed significantly before Ozark County voters. “So, many of you moved here because you don’t want...planning and zoning, I’m assuming. But, because we don’t have planning and zoning, [those large companies] could come in and do whatever they want to.”

“They could put a skyscraper right next to you tomorrow,” added Wise. 

“And that’s that double-edged sword that we talked about before,” said Eastern District Commissioner Jim Britt. “No one here wants this, but we’ve not been approached by anybody.” 

“But if it comes right down to it, we can’t stop it, unless we pass planning and zoning, and that doesn’t even stop it 100 percent,” added Western District Commissioner Layne Nance.

“And that’s one of my questions,” said Wren Haffner. “Is it a blanket or umbrella planning and zoning, or can there be nuance with that?”

“There can be nuance in everything,” Wise answered.

“...Like a county-wide no data centers moratorium? Could we propose something like that?” asked Haffner. “Just to slow it down in case anyone approaches you?”

Newton said similar moratoriums are being overturned in court, and that even if the county passed planning and zoning or a moratorium, there could be another obstacle in the fight against data centers.

“Let’s say we did planning zoning throughout the county. But let’s say the federal government or the state government wants [a data center] here. Who’s going to stop them selling part of the federal land or the state land [in the county] to [the companies who want to build a data center]. We have zero control.”

“So what do we do?” asked Smythe.

“We can do nothing about that,” said Newton.

“If we pass a moratorium, does that kind of show at the federal level that this county stood up and did this. Is that a positive thing?” asked Haffner.

“Some of the moratoriums are getting overturned in court before you can get started,” answered Newton. “That’s the issue with that.”

“What about coming from a health permit standpoint?” asked Haffner. “Because [the data centers] are having some health repercussions on citizens. Like attacking it from a different angle…to slow it down.”

“The entity who would have to attack that would be our [county] health department,” Wise answered.

The commissioners and Wise also pointed out that the vast majority of centers are being built along interstates, and that’s where Ozark County has an advantage: no interstates, no four-lane highways, no airport, no trains. Basically, no infrastructure most of the companies building the data centers need are located in the county.

 “They’re going to try to be along those areas more right now,” said Newton. 

“I think many of us are just thinking long-term as far as protecting the Ozark aquifer,” said Haffner. “Here we’re pretty safe. I moved here for no zoning... also for the water…if it gets tapped up in Marshfield, what is our water pressure going to be like in 10 or 20 years? That’s how I think many of us are thinking. How can we protect that into the future?”

This article will be continued in week’s edition of the Ozark County Times.