Three environmental groups are issuing an ultimatum to developers of a pair of West Side data centers, telling them to clean up alleged violations of clean air laws or face a federal lawsuit.
The move comes as data centers are facing increasing pushback from residents and once-friendly local and state lawmakers.
“They can’t get away with it,” Kristin Henry, managing attorney for the Sierra Club, said in a statement. “People are paying attention, and we’ll keep fighting such blatant attempts to disregard the Clean Air Act at the expense of our future.”
The groups said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality are allowing the developers to move ahead without the pollution control technology, pollution monitoring and public hearings required by the act. They are getting away with it by building with permits for minor sources of pollution, the groups say, while their generators are actually major pollution sources under the law.
By not seeking a major source permit, they allege, the process gave the public no opportunity to weigh in and skirts enforcement of rules requiring pollution controls and monitoring.
Henry said the moves amount to the developers and the EPA “trying to subvert laws meant to protect everyday people.”
The developers and TCEQ did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The EPA said it couldn’t comment until it reviews the groups’ demand letter.
The data centers at 14270 Omicron Drive and 5207 Rogers Road are powered by two gas-fired power plants and 151 backup diesel generators with a capacity of 423 megawatts, the groups said. That is enough to power 105,750 homes, or nearly 20% of San Antonio’s households. The electricity generated is “behind-the-meter,” meaning the plants’ output is dedicated solely to the data centers.
Construction of the projects is complete and the data centers, which began construction last year with an estimated combined cost of $645 million, are partially operational.
The environmental groups said the power plants could emit about 5,600 tons per year of nitrogen oxides and 323 tons per year of volatile organic compounds, which create smog. Additionally, the projects could emit cancer-causing gases including 1,190 tons of carbon monoxide per year.
If Vantage and VoltaGrid do not resolve the alleged violations within 60 days, the environmental groups plan to file suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District.
Earlier this month, the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against Vantage regarding a data center in Wisconsin, alleging the $15 billion project failed to conduct a required environmental impact statement. The data center is to be occupied by OpenAI and Austin-based Oracle Corp.