ACTION NEEDED to PREVENT ANOTHER GIANT DATA CENTER
in NW Utah
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| Tracker of Grow the Flow |
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| Tracker of Grow the Flow |
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| Tracker of Grow the Flow |
Utah cannot afford such the Stratos project to endanger our state's economy, our public health, our environment, our clean air, or our clean water.
Pat BAGLEY explains:
THE PROBLEM:
THE PROBLEM
A major topic affecting our community this week is the proposed Stratos MEGA-data center and the enormous group of GARGANTUAN gas-fired power plants to be sited in western Box Elder County in Hansel Valley and south of CURLEW Valley.
Many other web sites and resources explain what is going on.
Salt Lake Tribune broke the story and has dug into the topic with many articles (check .sltrib.com for updates coming fast):
https://www.sltrib.com/news/2026/04/25/hyperscale-data-center-may-be/
https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2026/04/29/blake-moore-karianne-lisonbee/
/https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2026/05/01/what-we-know-about-mida-its-link/
https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2026/05/01/utahns-send-state-deluge-concerns/
Gov Cox is invested in pushing a risky project on Utah: It would greatly enrich out of state developers and cronies while promising fake benefits to BOX ELDER COUNTY
https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/editorial/2026/05/01/tribune-editorial-box-elder-county/
https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2026/05/01/utahns-send-state-deluge-concerns/
/https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2026/03/16/utah-incentives-lure-least-one
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FIND OUT about the scam:
BEST graphical and DATA summaries of what is happening. ACCESS IT here. EXPLORE this amazing web site. It explains all sorts of issues about this project. There has been an update. Use this version.
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We Need Your Help
If this proposed development concerns you, here are two immediate ways you can take action:
- Formally protest the water rights application tied to this project ($15) [this takes very little time]
- Go to: https://waterrights.utah.gov/protestOfApplication/protestOfApplication.asp
- Enter the application number: Water Right 13-4148
- Click “Get Info”
- “Change application” will auto-fill under “action to be protested”
- Fill out your information and your reason for protest
- You can reference concerns like:
- Harm to Great Salt Lake and wildlife
- Harm to entire state's economy and everyone's health if GREAT SALT LAKE is not returned to healthy levels from its current extreme adverse condition.
- Insufficient water for the project’s scale
- Lack of clear hydrologic or impact analysis
- Reliance on unproven assumptions
- Missing key details like long-term safeguards
- There is a high water table in part of the site and that water must NOT BE DIVERTED along with surface rights.
- You can reference concerns like:
- Submit your protest
2. Make your voice heard at the County Commission meeting
Urge Box Elder County Commissioners to carefully consider the long-term impacts of this project and protect the water resources that Great Salt Lake depends on.
- When: Monday, May 4 at 4:00 pm
- Where: BEC Fairgrounds Fine Arts Building (320 N. 1000 W., Tremonton, UT)
This site is in earthquake country, would be built on top of a young shield volcano and other cinder cones, and is prone to liquefaction. HAS THAT BEEN CONSIDERED?
Dr. Janecke, Emerita USU, made a quick summary and assessment of geologic hazards here
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Another collection of insights is HERE. Northern Utah citizens collected this information.
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A quasi state entity MIDA - Military Infrastructure Development Authority, in partnership with a private group called Stratos, and a financial front man named Kevin O'Leary, wants to acquire 40,000 acres in Box Elder County to build a 3 gigawatt gas-fired power plant, ramping to 7.5 Gw or 9 Gw (this is a lot - as in, the largest such power plant in the world) to exclusively power a massive data center to be built there. MIDA made a request to approve an interlocal agreement with Box Elder County on April 22 (see video here); t
The BOX ELDER commission tabled the motion and considered it at a meeting on April 27 (see video here);
Again, the motion was tabled and a meeting is set for May 4, at 4 pm, at the Box Elder Fairgrounds Fine Arts Building, at 4 pm.
A large number of people showed up for the April 27 meeting, and it is anticipated that many more will be at the May 4th meeting. This request, and many other similar requests nationwide, are receiving considerable regional and national news coverage, and significant push back by local residents and other groups.
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For more information, please go here or here.
SUMMARY ASSESSMENT:
This project appears to be under-planned, under-researched, poorly justified, chock full of environmental hazards and natural hazards, has large economic risks, was designed to trick Box Elder County into relinquishing their tax revenue, is sneaky, and extremely risky.
That is why there is a RUSH ORDER.
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What can you do? By watching the videos and the reports from people who attended, one can determine that the Box Elder county commission was asked about this VERY late in the game - perhaps as late as just a few weeks ago. This is a massive project - billions of dollars of investment, large construction projects with perhaps 1000’s of temporary construction jobs over 3-4 years. MIDA representatives did not supply backing data for many of their assertions regarding tax revenue, environmental reports, geologic hazards, local and regional air quality and water impacts; and at times provided numbers that are at odds with information most other reputable resources provide regarding jobs and revenue created, environmental impacts, etc.
IF you have time and or expertise, you can watch the meetings - at the first meeting the topic is considered from 9-16 min, read this material, and send questions to the commission here.
Inform the commission about issues
FILE IS PROTEST against change of water permits
Water-rights protest deadline
Tue, May 5
File a protest on Application 13-4148 at waterrights.utah.gov. $15 per protest. Cite groundwater impact, Locomotive Springs, and Great Salt Lake tributary depletion.
Attend the peaceful rally at 3 pm, Monday May 4, at the Box Elder Fairgrounds, Tremonton.
The commission is meeting at 4 pm, NO public comments will be allowed, and the commission expects strict decorum regarding any comments from the audience. The commission makes it clear that the meeting is in their chambers. We aim to enable Box Elder county residents to have seating priority.
If you have time, and especially if you live in Box Elder County, please post questions that are relevant to the commission’s decision, please post questions here. They ask to make your questions as detailed as possible.
Personal note, we respect the efforts of the 3 county commissioners.
A tremendous amount of pressure is being placed DELIBERATELY on the 3 county commissioners in order to prevent them from finding out how bad this plan could be for their county. RUSHING is a common strategy when a bad and greedy plan is proposed.
- Commissioners represent a county of 58,000 people with significant suburban encroachment from the south; a large rocketry facility, large amounts of arid land, a complex relationship with the federal and state governments, and private companies, regulated utility companies, Salt Lake City, etc.,
When it comes to land use, water rights, industrial infrastructure, grazing rights, hunting, salt, and phragmites. The folks there have a historical perception of being a rural, quiet place; within a few weeks they are being pressured by a state entity backed by the governor, the state senate president, at least one of our US senators, to sign onto a project for which the front man is appearing on Fox News, MSN, etc. and where billions may be spent, and where there appears to be few details provided regarding the costs, impacts, extent, etc., of the project. The original ask for approval was a 9 minute session in a rather uneventful commission meeting, and now they are a center of attention.
Sign making Saturday and Sunday, Logan, May 2 and 3. Final details for time and place to follow.
Growing Alarm
Pat Bagley | Growing Alarm
Pat Bagley | Growing Alarm
Insights from other projects:
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| Read about how Dutch are dealing with this problem |
POSSIBLE TALKING POINTS:
- Imagine deciding on your home purchase and mortgage in a mad rush? Then imagine including planning and committing to an irreversible plan to build the power plant to provide energy for your home because it is off grid. Do all of that in a mad rush at the same time. No one in their right mind would agree to such a plan.
- Why should Box Elder County be forced into a decision that is a million times more impactful?
- Boosters of this effort are trying to force the Box Elder commission to decide on the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of home mortgages and thousands of polluting power plants in a few weeks? It is CRAZY and very risky.
2) Consider the promise of "no water loss for the Great Salt Lake".
- BOOSTERS REPORT: A new technology called "Closed-Loop Cooling" will solve the problem:
A new technology is being touted with a closed-loop cooling system.
The first time a new technology is implemented there are ALWAYS issues that need to be corrected, trouble-shot, and overcome.
When a new technology is being tried it should be tested on a small project.
It is incredibly foolhardy to try out a new technology on an gargantuan project of this scale.
Closed-loop cooling was touted as having almost zero water loss.
.......DEFYing THE LAWS OF PHYSICS.
3. Explore the stunning size of the project:
THE SITE IS ENORMOUS:
4. Understand that RUSHING an irreversible decision is a deliberate tactic to obscure a risky project's major flaws.
Risks of Rushing
While proponents argue that speed saves money, this approach often leads to:
High Costs and Rework: Speed-driven decisions can result in 5%–15% higher costs due to necessary rework, as design errors are discovered after construction has begun.
Design errors are guaranteed in this project given the inexperienced team in charge.
The main investor is a TV personality, after all.
The project leader speaking to the Box Elder Council was an administrative assistant as recently as 2024.
Earthquake hazards are considerable and apparently none were acknowledged by boosters.
Liquefaction risk could impact the project.
Volcanic ash could erupt from one of the volcanoes in and near the site. The most recent dated eruption spread ash across several valley shortly before Laje Bonneville began to rise.
Safety Hazards: Rushed sites have higher risks of accidents.
Lowered Quality: The pressure to finish on time often results in reduced safety checks, design revisions, and overall lower quality of work.
5. UNDERSTAND the objectives behind the rushed schedule for the Box Elder DATA center project:
Risk to RUSHING:
RUSHING is not a good idea for Box Elder county, for our state, for the Great Salt Lake, for the clean air, or for our water budget in this mega-drought.
RUSHING is almost always intended to prevent scrutiny of faulty plans.
RUSHING is often used to pressure decision makers into overlooking issues that could make a project a poor choice for their community.
RUSHING is almost always a strategy for projects with ENORMOUS RISK.
Boosters exaggerate the possible benefits of projects and make them sound like certainties when in fact they may not come to pass.
Boosters downplay and minimize the many downsides and risks of projects.
6. Power generated with natural gas pollutes the air, water and land.
HELP US TO prevent gas-fired power plants:
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| Gas Fired Power plants look like this. NOTE THE POLLUTION. |
UTAH IS THE IDEAL LOCATION FOR CHEAP AND CLEAN SOLAR POWER GENERATION
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| Solar power looks like this. It can be placed on urban buildings instead of gobbling up precious land. |
7. The Ruby pipeline may not have the massive amount of gas required for this project!!!! Wyoming would need to increase their production by 50% from declining gas field.
8. Other similar projects produced terrible results-as described by speaker in the video.
- Polluted water
- Good paying jobs are promised but do not appear
- Jobs are often remote
- Local community suffers
- Sound pollution
- Less water in community
- Air pollution
- Light pollution is so bad that night lights are no needed
- On site jobs pay less than local average-despite boosters promising the moon
- Sponsors get rich
- Everyone else suffers
- Deceptive promises are common
@moonindetriment Here’s video of me yelling at city council, in honor of this video apparently doing numbers on fbook (I boycott Meta so I had no idea lmao) If you’re in South Jersey and you care about this issue, join Sustain SJ! ✊🏻 #ai #datacenter #community #foryoupage #fyp ♬ original sound - moon in detriment