In reference to the data center planning to be built here in Statesboro, some questions and thoughts prior to the city’s zoning hearing for the data center at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in City Hall: OBSERVATION 1: Statesboro has actually adopted a fairly restrictive data-center ordinance. The city has prohibited the enormous “hyperscale” facilities within the city limits and capped permitted “edge” data centers at 50 acres. It also requires closed-loop cooling, connection to municipal water/sewer, water-management planning, noise limits, environmental protections, an economic-impact report, and a decommissioning plan. QUESTION 1: Is the City holding firm to all of these requirements? OBSERVATION 2: Groundwater contamination is possible, if the coolant actually contains chemicals capable of contaminating groundwater, and only possible if the cooling loop system develop minor leaks that went unnoticed. QUESTION 2: Will the cooling system use such chemicals? OBSERVATION 3: Closed loop water cooling systems are designed to minimize water use from a community’s water supply. I read an estimate that the data center will draw about 1,000 gallons of water a day – about the consumption of 6-7 average homes in Statesboro. QUESTION 3: Is this estimate accurate? If so, than additional loss of water from our aquifer is insignificant. OBSERVATION 4: The proposed Burkhalter facility is in roughly the 50–100+ MW range. A 100-MW data center operating continuously consumes about 2.4 million kWh every…
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