Box Elder County data center foes sue to reverse decision stalling their efforts against project

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Opponents of the Box Elder County data center project have sued, challenging the decision halting their efforts to petition for a vote on the plans.
County Attorney Stephan Hadfield last week determined last week that two resolutions central in the matter were not subject to referendum, stalling the foes' efforts.
The plans have been focus of sharp debate for weeks.

BRIGHAM CITY — As promised, opponents of the Box Elder County data center project have filed suit to challenge the decision rejecting their efforts to force a vote on the future of two measures allowing the proposal to proceed.

"We told you all this fight isn't over, and we meant it. Now we are pivoting to protecting our constitutional right to a local referendum and taking the fight to court," Brigette Cottam, one of the co-sponsors of the push for a referendum, said in a statement.

Box Elder County Attorney Stephen Hadfield last week rejected the applications to launch challenges against two resolutions Box Elder County commissioners approved on May 4 that enable the data center plans to edge forward. Amid strong opposition to the data center project, Cottam and several others had submitted applications to county officials to collect signatures on petitions in a bid to force ballot questions on the resolutions, thus giving voters a say in the matter.

Hadfield, however, said resolutions 26-11 and 26-12 were "administrative actions," not new laws, thus Cottam and the others didn't have grounds to pursue their effort.

Data center foes said they'd take the matter to court, and they did just that on Wednesday, filing suit in 1st District Court in Brigham City. They ask that Hadfield's determination be overturned.

"The Utah Constitution and Utah Supreme Court case law give us the right to place this important decision back in the hands of the people — where the power should be — through the referendum process," said Brenna William, also involved in the push for a referendum. "By appealing the county's decision, we are exercising that right. We are confident that our argument for a referendum has standing before the court, and before the people."

Box Elder County issued a statement saying it hasn't yet been formally notified of the lawsuit and had no reaction. "Once the county receives and reviews any related paperwork, we will respond as appropriate," says the statement.

Canadian businessman Kevin O'Leary and O'Leary Digital are the moving forces behind the data center plans, 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.

"The Stratos Data Center Project will have significant consequences that will affect the lives of all of us, our children and our grandchildren in communities across Box Elder County and beyond for many years to come," Williams said. The opponents are part of a group called Box Elder Accountability Referendum, or BEAR.

Box Elder County commissioners approved resolutions 26-11 and 26-12 despite the opposition of many. 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.

'We welcome the engagement'

The project has prompted sharp debate, protests and more in Utah.

Given the backlash, Gov. Spencer Cox last week signed an executive order setting up parameters guiding data center development in Utah. The guidelines are meant to make sure "that economic strength and environmental stewardship go hand in hand."

On Monday, Utah Senate President Stuart Adams called for a dramatic reduction in the 40,000-acre landmass where the data center and power-generating facilities would be built. He issued a statement saying the project area should instead be limited to 10,000 acres and called for use of the latest technology to reduce the project's water consumption and to capture the heat it generates.

O'Leary Digital CEO Paul Palandjian said he welcomes the input, though Adams' call remains focus of review.

"What we can say is that we welcome the engagement, and we share the president's commitment to the people of Utah, industry-leading water stewardship, environmental performance and transparency on this project," Palandjian said.

He said the issues Cox addresses in the executive order align with the standards outlined in Utah's regulatory framework that the O'Leary Digital officials plan to follow in data center development. "The governor's order reinforces the standard, and we intend to meet it," Palandjian said.

He pushed back against any suggestion that officials like Cox and Adams are taking a more guarded stance on the project with the vocal backlash it's generated.

"State leaders are doing exactly what serious oversight looks like on a project of this scale — asking hard questions about water, air, land and long-term obligations. We welcome that," Palandjian said. A project as large as the O'Leary Digital proposal "should be held to a high standard. The governor and the president are setting that standard. Our job is to meet it, and we intend to."

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