LOGAN – Adverse weather curtailed the first attempt by advocacy groups fighting the proposed Stratos data center project in Box Elder County to export their outrage to Cache Valley on May 30.
A steady downpour dampened the enthusiasm of fewer than 100 protestors who gathered on the square at the Cache County Historic Courthouse in downtown Logan to wave signs and listen to speakers rail against the proposed development.
Local candidates for political office were out in force, however, including Peter Crosby, a Democratic candidate for Congress in Utah’s 2nd District; Kendra Penry, a Democrat opposing state Rep. Casey Snider in District 5 of the Utah House; and Patrick Belmont, an Independent candidate for office in House District 3 of the state Legislature.
In his remarks, Belmont told data center foes that the controversy has highlighted issues of trust between Utahns and officials elected to represent them.
Although the well-known local environmental advocate didn’t name specific names, but social media posts by Stratos Project opponents in recent weeks have alleged that prominent lawmakers reportedly stand to benefit financially from the proposed development in the remote Hansel Valley area of Box Elder County.
In those unsubstantiated claims, the officials cited include state House Speaker Mike Schultz (R-Hooper), Senate President Stuart Adams (R-Wood Cross) and former U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, among others.
The Logan rally was organized by the Box Elder Accountability Referendum (B.E.A.R.) organization, an opposition group that had sought to put the data center project up for a public referendum on the November ballot in Box Elder County.
Following an adverse ruling by County Attorney Stephen R. Hadfield on May 28 that blocked that effort, B.E.A.R. and other groups have vowed to move ahead with litigation in Utah’s First District Court, to spread awareness of the environmental consequences of the data center and to advocate for local communities to have a voice in similar developments.
Much of the opposition to the Stratos Project thus far has focused on concerns about the alleged water requirements for cooling of the hyper-scale data center and its possible impact on the already shrinking Great Salt Lake.
Following initial approval of the project by Box Elder commissioners on May 4, data center critics deluged state officials with official protests and additional letters of concern. Their efforts seemingly forced Canadian billionaire Kevin O’Leary’s development team to withdraw two separate water rights applications in the past month.
In addition to the B.E.A.R. group, other organizations aligned in opposition to the data center project include Elevate Strategies, Friends of the Great Salt Lake, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Alliance for a Better Utah, Grow the Flow, the Great Salt Lake Audubon Society and the Utah Democratic Party, among others.