Residents packed the chambers and poured into the parking lot during a Thursday meeting of the Imperial County Board of Supervisors held to solicit feedback about plans to develop a massive data center without first conducting a state environmental review.
Speakers were overwhelmingly opposed to the project, citing a range of health and environmental concerns, and criticized the board for allowing the proposal to move forward despite outcry from the community.
“This project does not exist in isolation; it impacts real neighborhoods, families and schools and is also setting a precedent for how you treat your constituents,” said Gina Snow, who lives near the proposed site. “If the full scope of this project cannot be clearly presented and independently verified, then residents are essentially being asked to make decisions without information they deserve.”
Kristian Salgado urged the board to follow the lead of the Monterey Park City Council, which recently enacted a moratorium on data centers and will put the issue to a public vote after a proposed project elicited backlash from the community.
“Across the United States, communities are pushing back against these projects,” Salgado said. “This developer is not an exception — no data center should be approved by right.”
Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing, a California-based limited liability company that started two years ago, wants to develop a 950,000-square-foot center in the county that’s designed for advanced artificial intelligence operations. The company says it will create jobs and generate $28.75 million in annual property tax revenue.
The county is moving toward finalizing the proposal, and has granted it an exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act — a point of contention for many residents. CEQA is a landmark state law that requires projects to undergo an extensive review about the social and environmental impacts before breaking ground.
In recent months, residents have circulated a petition, spoken out at county meetings, rallied on the streets, and launched a community organization, Not in My Backyard Imperial, to protest the data center and demand a CEQA review.
“What the heck are we doing?” Sergio Pesqueria asked the board on Thursday. “There are lawsuits, there are thousands of signatures in opposition to this project, there were over four hours of public comment to the planning commission previously, we had to extend an hour tonight because of the overwhelming opposition — but here we are proceeding with this project.”
The city of Imperial has filed a lawsuit against the county, arguing the project should not have received a CEQA exemption. Sebastian Rucci, the chief executive of Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing, is now suing the city alleging it unfairly worked to derail the data center.
Rucci previously said the center will use reclaimed wastewater and EPA-certified natural gas generators to help lessen any environmental harms. He commissioned multiple studies that found the project will have minimal impacts on the local community — he reiterated this point on Thursday and told residents they could review the studies on the company’s website.
One speaker, Jose Garcia, urged the community to support the project because it will create jobs for construction workers. He said many who work in the industry are growing desperate as they struggle to find work, and some are living in fear of being unable to provide for their children.
“We can’t just block out one sector of your constituents,” Garcia told the board. “We have to make it fair for everybody.”
Some residents questioned why the name of the company that plans to use the center to power its artificial intelligence is being withheld. Rucci previously told The Times that the company is one of the major artificial intelligence hyperscalers, but would not reveal which one because of the ongoing disputes about the project.
Data centers have existed for decades but are rapidly changing and expanding due to the worldwide boom in artificial intelligence.
Cornell University researchers last year estimated that AI growth could add 24 million to 44 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere annually by 2030, the equivalent of adding 5 million to 10 million cars to U.S. roadways. The researchers concluded it would also drain 731 million cubic meters to 1,125 million cubic meters of water per year.
