{"id":25829,"date":"2026-03-28T02:35:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T02:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/03\/28\/residents-speak-out-against-proposed-data-center-in-imperial-county\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T02:35:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T02:35:26","slug":"residents-speak-out-against-proposed-data-center-in-imperial-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/03\/28\/residents-speak-out-against-proposed-data-center-in-imperial-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Residents speak out against proposed data center in Imperial County"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Residents packed the chambers and gathered in the parking lot during Thursday’s meeting of the Imperial County Board of Supervisors to solicit feedback about a plan to develop a massive data center without conducting a state environmental review. <\/p>\n

Speakers overwhelmingly opposed the project, citing numerous health and environmental concerns and criticized the board for allowing the proposal to move forward despite community opposition.<\/p>\n

Gina Snow, who lives near the proposed site, said, “This project doesn’t exist in isolation; it impacts real neighborhoods, families and schools and it’s also setting a precedent for how you treat your constituents.” \u201cIf the full scope of this project cannot be clearly presented and independently verified, residents are essentially being asked to make decisions without the information they are entitled to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cristian Salgado urged the board to follow the lead of the Monterey Park City Council, which recently enacted<\/a>
The issue will be put to a public vote after a moratorium on data centers and a proposed project receives feedback from the community. <\/p>\n

“Across the United States, communities are protesting these projects,” Salgado said. \u201cThis developer is not an exception \u2013 no data center should be approved by authority.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing, a California-based limited liability company started two years ago, wants to develop a 950,000-square-foot center in the county designed for advanced artificial intelligence operations. The company says it will create jobs and generate $28.75 million in annual property tax revenue.<\/p>\n

The board is moving toward finalizing the proposal, and it is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act \u2013 a point of contention for many residents. CEQA is a landmark state law that requires projects to undergo extensive review regarding social and environmental impacts before they can begin.<\/p>\n

In recent months, residents have circulated a petition,<\/a> Spoke at county meetings, took out rallies on the streets<\/a>and launched a community organization, Not in My Backyard Imperial,<\/u> Protesting the data center and demanding a CEQA review.<\/p>\n

“What the hell are we doing?” Sergio Pesqueria asked the board on Thursday. \u201cThere are lawsuits, there are thousands of signatures protesting this project, there were over four hours of public comment at the first planning commission, we had to extend an hour tonight because of the overwhelming opposition \u2013 but here we are moving forward with this project.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city of Imperial has filed a lawsuit against the county, arguing that the project should not have received a CEQA exemption. Sebastian Rucci, CEO of Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing, is now suing the city, alleging wrongdoing in derailing the data center. <\/p>\n

Rucki previously said the center would use reclaimed wastewater and EPA-certified natural gas generators to help minimize any environmental damage. They commissioned a series of studies that found the project would have minimal impact on the local community \u2013 a point they reiterated on Thursday and told residents they could do the same. review studies<\/a> On the company’s website. <\/p>\n

One speaker, Jose Garcia, urged the community to support the project as it would create jobs for construction workers. He said many people working in the industry are becoming desperate as they struggle to find work, and some are living in fear of being unable to support their children. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t block just one area of \u200b\u200byour constituents,\u201d Garcia told the board. \u201cWe have to make it fair for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some residents questioned why the name of the company that plans to use the center to power its artificial intelligence is being withheld. Rookie previously told the Times that the company is one of the major artificial intelligence hyperscalers, but would not disclose which company due to ongoing controversies about the project. <\/p>\n

At the end of the meeting, Board members thanked the speakers for sharing their views and said they had listened carefully to all their comments. <\/p>\n

Data centers have been in existence for decades but are changing and expanding rapidly due to the worldwide boom in artificial intelligence. <\/p>\n

Cornell University Researchers last year<\/u><\/a> It is estimated that AI enhancements could add 24 to 44 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually to the atmosphere by 2030, the equivalent of adding 5 to 10 million cars to American roads. The researchers concluded that it would also lead to the withdrawal of 731 to 1,125 million cubic meters of water per year.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Residents packed the chambers and gathered in the parking lot during Thursday’s meeting of the Imperial County Board of Supervisors to solicit feedback about a plan to develop a massive data center without conducting a state environmental review. Speakers overwhelmingly opposed the project, citing numerous health and environmental concerns and criticized the board for allowing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[1301,891,2161,11529,1970,3366,3539],"class_list":["post-25829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bible-verse","tag-center","tag-county","tag-data","tag-imperial","tag-proposed","tag-residents","tag-speak"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25829"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25831,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25829\/revisions\/25831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}