In a tense and tightly controlled public hearing Tuesday, the Imperial County Board of Supervisors approved a lot merger that opens a path for construction to begin on a massive data center complex proposed in the heart of the county.
The supervisors voted 4-1 to combine several parcels of land where the proposed complex will be built. According to county planners, the decision was the only step where the county had discretion over whether the project moves forward.
The project has faced fierce opposition from a large group of county residents calling themselves Not in My Backyard Imperial, who worry about the potential environmental impacts of the facility.
The project’s developer, Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing (IVCM), still needs to overcome several other hurdles to get the data center complex up-and-running. Most significantly, the company needs to convince the region’s powerful public utility, the Imperial Irrigation District (IID), to agree to provide energy — and potentially water too.
In a brief interview Tuesday afternoon, IVCM Chief Executive Officer Sebastian Rucci said he was pleased the supervisors had decided to allow the merger to move forward.
“We’ve shown our willingness to make changes, we’ll continue to make changes,” Rucci told KPBS following the decision. “There’s a lot of steps to go.”
County officials restricted people from getting into Tuesday’s meeting despite it being a regularly-scheduled event on the board’s calendar. They limited the number of people who could enter the county building and did not make additional space for overflow until halfway through the meeting.
During the meeting, armed sheriff’s deputies removed at least three people who had come to oppose the data center project — in one case, swarming a protester and dragging them out of the room. A lieutenant later told KPBS deputies had arrested the protester on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Christopher Scurries, a local high school music teacher and NIMBY Imperial organizer, said he was disturbed by how aggressively deputies had escorted protesters from the room.
“(I’m) surprised that they would go to the extent to kick people out so cavalierly,” he said. “We are the taxpayers, and we have every right to protest.”
In January, KPBS reported that IVCM had designed the project to meet the county’s zoning requirements so it would not need to face a lengthy environmental analysis under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Rucci previously told KPBS they would take steps to reduce the project’s environmental footprint. Rucci said they would use renewable energy, buy recycled municipal water from nearby cities and cover the cost of necessary infrastructure upgrades.
Officials in those cities have said they had discussed supplying water but had not reached any formal agreements.
Supervisors raised a number of concerns about the proposed data center and the debate over it during the meeting.
Supervisor Jesus Eduardo Escobar questioned the project’s developers about dust emissions and air pollution. County Chair Peggy Price said she had faced threats and attacks on her integrity and argued the lot merger was just one small element of the larger project.
Supervisor John Hawk said he had lost sleep over the lot merger decision. But he emphasized that the developer will need to meet additional thresholds — specifically, finding sources of power and water — before the data center complex can come online.
“This project has a number of hurdles to overcome,” Hawk told meeting attendees. “There is a ways to come.”
Supervisor Martha Cardenas-Singh was the lone vote against the merger. In brief remarks, she said only that she hoped county residents felt they had been heard.
“I hope that I have met that obligation to hear all sides of the story,” she said.
Scurries and other NIMBY Imperial organizers say they will continue to fight the project — including by launching a recall effort against Price, whose district includes the planned project.
“We're still keeping up the good fight,” Scurries said. "We know that this isn't the end."
