A special meeting was held in the Upstate Wednesday night, as the dispute over data centers continues. The Spartanburg County Council held the 2nd public safety committee hearing regarding the potential year long moratorium on new data center projects.
Council members pressed those involved in the project for answers regarding environmental impacts. The Council recently delayed a vote on the potential moratorium saying they were going to gather more information before making a decision. Council has already been talking to DHEC representatives, utility company leaders and environmental experts regarding the potential impacts of data centers.
NorthMark Strategies is the company behind the proposed Valara data center project. . An attorney from the Southern Environmental Law Center was also on hand and argued against the project due to the potential negative impact the data center could have on the community. A representative from Northmark was also on hand to explain its position.
However, councilman Mo Abusaft was not satisfied with their explanation and wants the company's scientific experts to address the council directly. The meeting was a long laboring event and did feature public comment.
However, the public comments did not start until the meeting had been going on for almost three hours. The council is expected to revisit the potential one-year data center moratorium later this month.
