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 and asking 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.”
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.
This story will be updated.