March 9, 2023
DEQ's website states its mission “is to protect and enhance
the environment of Virginia in order to promote the health and well-being of
the Commonwealth's citizens, residents, and visitors in accordance with
applicable laws and regulations.”
Many local residents question how DEQ’s mission squares with the accommodation it is proposing to permit a single wealthy industry to hazard our health and well-being.
My skepticism about DEQ’s blind eye toward data center growth goes back some time. On Nov. 21, 2021, I asked regional director Tom Faha whether he intended to respond to a requested review of the Prince William Digital Gateway proposal. Despite the unprecedented magnitude of this project, Mr. Faha replied: “Such proposals are considered local zoning matters and outside of the agency’s regulatory purview.”
In my follow-up e-mail to Mr. Faha on Nov. 22, I stated: “While I understand that DEQ does not have direct jurisdiction over zoning matters in Prince William County, you are the state’s environmental experts, and I expect that DEQ will at least render an opinion on the environmental risks and impacts of a project of this scope in order to protect the state’s equities and its citizens’ safety.”
On Dec. 16, 2021, after DEQ neglected to submit a review, I wrote Mr. Faha again, lamenting that DEQ’s reluctance to engage until after the fact “is like saying this poison might kill you, but I won’t know for sure until I conduct the autopsy after you’re dead.”
On March 31, 2022, I wrote DEQ Director Mike Rolband imploring DEQ to engage in the review of the Prince William Digital Gateway after Fairfax County’s concerns made it an inter-county issue. His reply to me on April 6 stated: “It is premature for DEQ to offer opinions in advance of necessary permit applications.”
DEQ’s ineffectual method of weighing in only after the horse
has left the barn constitutes gross negligence that violates its mission and
jeopardizes Virginia’s citizens.
Now DEQ is proposing a variance from air quality standards to permit data centers to operate their diesel generators continuously during periods of peak electrical usage. The crisis in electrical grid strain we are facing was not unforeseen and the current data center capacity causing this crisis is a mere fraction of what Prince William County has already recklessly approved, but not yet built out. Vulnerabilities created by this government-industry collusion are far more threatening than any stray Chinese balloons. We worry about foreign hackers taking down our electrical grid and here we are doing it to ourselves.
At what point will some local, state or federal agency step
up and acknowledge what any child can see? The data center industry is way out
over its skis and requires more responsible regulation.
Instead of foisting their problem on the public, why is there not a plan for data centers to reduce their electrical load though selective service reductions? If we know this industry is the source of the problem, the onus should be on them to be part of the solution.
Bill Wright
Gainesville
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