The Digital Gateway appeal hearing is:
THIS TUESDAY
February 24
1 PM
Arlington Circuit Court Building
1425 North Courthouse Rd
Arlington, VA
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Here is recent news coverage of this headline event:
Guest Column: An imminent threat to hallowed ground | Opinion | insidenova.com
“The plan to build the world’s largest data center complex next to Manassas National Battlefield Park is the most significant threat to a national battlefield park in decades. This 5,000-acre national park, which commemorates two critical battles of the Civil War, welcomes over 600,000 people each year. And it is hallowed ground to over 4,000 men who lost their lives there in 1861 and 1862. Today, it provides an irreplaceable educational landscape that helps us understand the battle and its impacts.
This battlefield and surrounding landscape are now at risk from the planned PW Digital Gateway complex. This massive development would include 37 buildings covering roughly the space of 144 Walmart Supercenters and consume enough electricity to power more than 2 million homes, fed by miles of high voltage transmission lines strung over the hallowed grounds of Manassas and private homes of Prince William County.”
Cheryl Schreier, 40 years with National Park Service, retired Superintendant – Mt. Rushmore National Park
Big Tech Is Buying Up America’s Land—and Home Builders Can’t Compete – WSJ
PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va.— “Steve Alloy was preparing to develop 516 new homes in Bristow, Va., about five years ago when the home builder began noticing something odd. Much of the land surrounding his site wasn’t being acquired by housing developers. It was being snapped up by tech giants such as Microsoft and Google.
A few miles away, a housing development called Village Place had the rights to build an additional 250 housing units, but the owner sold the land to a data-center developer for $31 million. Data-center developer NTT later paid $257 million for another vacant acreage.”
‘The Industry Comes In and Kills the Work of Local Citizens’ – POLITICO
“The fast-growing industry helmed by the richest corporations on the planet — Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft — brings with it immense amounts of cash for land deals, local taxes and campaign contributions that can prove irresistible to local officials.
Angry and Boddye have together received more than $313,600 in campaign donations since 2023 from data center developers and land owners contracted to sell to the industry, according to a POLITICO review of campaign donation disclosures filed with the state.”
Data center battle pits Big Tech against local homeowners | Fox News Video (all about Prince William County!) National Fox News
“A growing fight is brewing nationwide as the rapid expansion of data centers pits Big Tech against local homeowners, raising concerns about transparency, power demand, diesel generator pollution and rising electricity prices.”
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