‘The fight is definitely not over’: Prince William woman leads charge against data centers | WJLA
HAYMARKET, Va. (7News) — A number of people in Prince William County aren’t giving up the fight in the days since county supervisors approved a digital gateway to be built across hundreds of acres of land.
Karen Sheehan, the Director of the Coalition to Protect Prince William County, told 7News she is looking into taking legal action following Tuesday’s vote, which paves the way to rezone around 1,700 acres of farmland and homes for upwards of 37 data centers.
“There were people that were just livid, there were people in tears,” she explained. “But very quickly, it was, ‘Okay, we’re not giving up. What do we do next?’”
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Sheehan said she has spent two years researching the efforts to bring data centers to the county.
“I’m concerned about the water, I’m concerned about the power, I’m concerned about the noise from data centers,” she said. “I’m concerned about the devastation of just continuously bringing in more and more concrete buildings.”
The co-founder of Compass Datacenters, one of the companies involved in the digital gateway, told 7News during Tuesday’s meeting that the proposal involves a nature preserve in addition to economic development.
“Compass is just glad to be a steward of something that’s going to be so impactful and we’re just thankful to be a part of it,” said Chris Curtis, who is also the company’s Senior Vice President of Development.
Curtis pointed to the tax revenue the digital gateway will bring to the county, but that promise of funds doesn’t satisfy Sheehan and many other members of the community.