Hood County commissioners voted 3-2 to reject a pause on new data center construction for the second time this month, sparking resident walkouts.
It was another loud commissioners' court meeting in Hood County with people storming out after elected leaders again voted against a moratorium on data centers.More than six data center projects have been proposed in Hood County alone.
Earlier this month, commissioners voted 3 to 2 against a moratorium, or a legal pause on the construction.Residents on Tuesday were again asking for time to slow down, gather information, and understand the impacts of new data center developments. Similar projects nationwide have sparked protests over noise, electricity demand, and pollution.But Hood County commissioners voted 3 to 2 against the pause yet again.Commissioner Kevin Andrews, who voted against the moratorium, said he’s trying to protect the county from lawsuits."There is no expressed authority for a moratorium anywhere involving the county code," he said.During the last meeting, a letter from state lawmakers, including State Sen. Paul Bettencourt and State Rep. Jared Patterson, warned counties that they don’t have moratorium authority. It also urged Attorney General Ken Paxton to step in if they try.The county’s attorney advised commissioners against trying.Still, residents said they are frustrated and fear for their futures."And I have a wife and nine children, and that’s where they’re going to grow up. And I’ve heard all kinds of research, all kinds of side effects from these facilities. And I don’t want my children growing up near one these things," said Hood County resident Matt Long."The pollution is going to hurt my lungs and my wife’s lungs, and we have pretty old lungs," argued resident Brian Glynn. "We’re too old to move now. We’re stuck. But I’ve started looking, you know, as here I have to be the responsible head of household. What are we going to do?"Glynn ended up walking out of the meeting before the commissioners had even voted."Texas has a finite, limited supply of fresh water already. These things are going to be an enormous drain on our water supply. They’re going to be a drain on our electric grid. Who knows what kind of toxic rare earth metals are going to be in our water," said Jordan Schmidt."Especially raising children, we do make a lot of choices and sacrifices throughout the days, the months, the years, for this little guy to have the best. And then to just have absolutely no choice in what’s put next door is really frustrating," Therese Schmidt added.Commissioner Andrews is urging residents to take their concerns to the state level and to reach out to their representatives.He also said there is a section of Texas government code that gives the county a little more authority to protect Lake Granbury as a recreational area and to protect the water quality against pollutants. Commissioners hope to explore that more during their next meeting on March 10."And we can modify some of these to achieve our intentions of making sure that if data centers are coming in here, that they’re not huge water sucking, taking away the natural resources for everybody here in the county," Andrews said.
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