Airway Heights forum draws concerns over Spokane County data centers

Airway Heights, Wash. — Residents and advocacy groups packed a forum in Airway Heights as concerns continued to grow over possible data center development in Spokane County.

Groups including 350 Spokane, the Lands Council, Spokane Riverkeeper, the West Plains Water Coalition and others hosted the People’s Public Forum on Data Centers at the Hilton Garden Inn. Organizers said the event gave people a chance to ask questions and prepare statements for upcoming public hearings. [Spokane County data center planning hearings link]

Dozens of people filled the conference room to standing-room-only capacity.

Several people stepped forward to share their concerns about housing, energy use and long-term impacts.

“The data center push in this country is wreaking havoc in the entire sector of housing. It is placing inordinate pressures for labor and materials.”

Another speaker raised concerns about power demand and safety.

“Data centers are much bigger entities that suck up way more power and energy and create lots of risks; especially the risk of fire as well.”

One speaker focused on what could happen if projects move ahead under county rules.

“Once they can get to ordinance in place and people can get vested. So some company can get vested someplace. Do you know how hard it’s going to be to get it to stop? Rarely do they tell people, “You need to tear that building down.””

Another resident pointed to job estimates and possible water use as part of a broader warning about what comes next.

“According to Harvard, data centers, on average, create 150 jobs. That doesn’t seem like a good trade for our water supply. I could tell you that the estimate currently is 1000MW…. more than every business and every person in this county currently uses. I could tell you that the estimate today, which was told to our own county commissioners, is somewhere between 25 million gallons of water per year, or a billion gallons of water a year, depending on how much it’s used. I could tell you all of that, but what you really need to know is that in four months, this issue is going to be decided.”

Others at the forum also raised concerns about sound levels they said could harm people and animals. Some also said they wanted more transparency from government officials.

A repeated call during the event was for Spokane County to extend its moratorium on data center development. One resident said the pause should last for years.

Organizers encouraged people to attend Spokane County public hearings on data center planning on September 15 at 2:00 p.m. and October 15 at 4:30 p.m.…Read more by Heidi Meili Nonstop Local Reporter