For Immediate Release
October 4, 2024
Contact: Elena Schlossberg
Coalition to Protect PW County
elenalouise@hotmail.com
LEADING CONSERVATION ORGANIZATIONS FILE AMICUS BRIEF IN OPPOSITION TO
WORLD’S LARGEST DATA CENTER DEVELOPMENT
Groups say Prince William Digital Gateway will cause irreparable harm to
Manassas Battlefield and other historic, natural and cultural resources
(Manassas, Virginia) —On October 3, 2024, six leading conservation organizations
committed to the preservation of the nation’s battlefields and natural resources have filed an
amicus curiae brief in support of a lawsuit to stop construction of the world’s largest data
center campus immediately adjacent to the Manassas National Battlefield Park. According to
the brief, the project “would inevitably lead to the irreversible and irreparable desecration of
hallowed ground and the despoiling of the natural and cultural resources in Prince William
County and across the Commonwealth.”
2024.10.3 – Amicus Brief – Digital Gateway
2024.10.3 – Motion for Leave to file Amicus Brief – Digital Gateway (1)
The friend-of-the-court brief was filed Thursday afternoon in the Circuit Court of Prince
William County by the Coalition to Protect Prince William County, Piedmont Environmental
Council, National Parks Conservation Association, Association for the Preservation of
Virginia Antiquities, National Trust for the Historic Preservation in the United States and
Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks. The filing supports the nine residents and the
American Battlefield Trust who have sued to overturn the December 2023 rezoning, which
was rushed through to approval by a lame-duck Board of Supervisors despite the negative
recommendation of county staff and the County’s Planning Commission and overwhelming
public opposition. A hearing in the suit, to determine if the case will be permitted to proceed
toward trial, is set for October 31.
The Prince William Digital Gateway — with 37 proposed data center buildings roughly the
equivalent of 144 Walmart Supercenters — would sprawl across 1,750 acres immediately
adjacent to the Manassas Battlefield and would require 14 on-site electrical substations for
operation. The National Park Service has called it the most significant threat to the
battlefield park in three decades.
“The Digital Gateway promises to transform this idyllic portion of Prince William County into
a buzzing hive of industrial activity, sucking up vast quantities of water and electricity and
stretching transmission lines across the County and beyond,” the organizations wrote to the
court.
The organizations, with a combined membership of more than 1 million, said they are
lending their voices to draw attention to the significance of the Manassas Battlefield and the
decades of public and private action to protect it, as well as to provide historical context as
the court considers the challenge to the rezoning.
Manassas National Battlefield Park commemorates two critical battles of the American Civil
War, the Battles of First and Second Manassas or Bull Run. Although the initial engagement
is remembered as the first major land battle of the war, the second was more significant to
its outcome and witnessed one of the most devastating and decisive assaults of the conflict.
Together, the two battles produced nearly 27,000 casualties. While the presence of a
national park demonstrates the significance of these battles, it is critical to recognize that
important historical events occurred beyond its modern boundaries, some of which are
slated to be the site of the Digital Gateway. The Congressionally created Civil War Sites
Advisory Commission, in considering the state of all Civil War battlefields, designated the
battlefields of First and Second Manassas as among the most important for preservation
and historic significance.
Large-scale efforts to protect Civil War sites emerged at the turn of the 20th century, with
the national park at Manassas formalized in 1936. A modern battlefield preservation
movement began in the 1980s in response to the rapid suburban development in Northern
Virginia. After NPS acquired 600 acres near the park, including the site of Robert E. Lee’s
Second Manassas headquarters, in a last-minute deal to prevent it from becoming a
shopping mall, more proactive methods for preservation were sought. In 1990, Congress
responded by creating the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission to identify the nation’s
historically significant sites, assess their condition and “recommend alternatives for
preserving and interpreting them.”
Threats of development to the Manassas Battlefield have persisted and increased. Since
2009, the American Battlefield Trust has taken action to acquire multiple parcels of historic
significance in the area that will be impacted by the Prince William Digital Gateway. This
includes 170 acres once part of Rock Hill Farm, an area that served as a field hospital
during Second Manassas and likely saw the burial of many who did not survive the battle.
Although significant effort was made to reinter the remains of the vast majority of those
buried on the battlefield in more formal cemeteries, remains are regularly found on
battlefields, including Manassas. The proposed Digital Gateway not only threatens these
hallowed grounds, but the remains of those who fell and and were laid to rest on the field.
In their filing, the nonprofit organizations said the Prince William County Board of
Supervisors was “duty bound to give due account to the historical, environmental, and other
impacts of their decision,” but did not conduct the proper process or give due account for
the will of the people they represent. The brief also noted the varying interests of the
organizations in the filing, which demonstrate the diverse impact of the rezoning and the
importance of the court’s decision.
“Data centers are a fundamental part of the technology infrastructure that supports the
modern economy, and they have a place in Prince William County and other localities in
Virginia. However, given the enormous impacts they can have on the surrounding
environment and nearby communities, it is essential that they be appropriately sited and
scaled,” the organizations said.
On December 13, 2023, Prince William County’s Board of Supervisors approved plans for
the massive Digital Gateway complex, a data center campus in the narrow corridor between
the western border of Manassas National Battlefield Park and Conway Robinson State
Forest. After a 27-hour meeting that included public comment from hundreds of area
residents, the final vote in favor was 4-3, with one abstention. In response, the American
Battlefield Trust, which owns preserved battlefield properties adjacent to the rezoning, and
nine residents filed suit to overturn the measure. The nonprofit organizations that submitted
the amicus brief were active in opposing the rezoning. On October 31, 2024, a hearing will
be held on motions filed by the County and the developers of the Digital Gateway to dismiss
the suit. A decision is expected soon afterward.
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Coalition to Protect Prince William County, https://protectpwc.org/, Elena
Schlossberg, elenalouise@hotmail.com
Piedmont Environmental Council, https://www.pecva.org/, Cindy Sabato, 540-347-2334
x7021, csabato@pecva.org
Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (Preservation Virginia),
https://preservationvirginia.org/, Jenna Affeldt, 804-404-6924, jaffeldt@preservationvirginia.org
Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, https://protectnps.org/, Emily Thompson,
202-819-8622, Emily_Thompson@protectnps.org
National Parks Conservation Association, www.npca.org, Kyle Groetzinger, 202-893-3391,
kgroetzinger@npca.org
National Trust for Historic Preservation, https://savingplaces.org/, Elliot Carter,
301-873-8520, ECarter@savingplaces.org