HERMANTOWN, Minn. (Northern News Now) – Two groups have filed a lawsuit against the City of Hermantown challenging the environmental review of a proposed data center project.
The lawsuit itself does not have the power to stop the process, but it asks for a pause on permitting and approval until a “legally adequate environmental review” is conducted.
Hermantown resident Jonathan Thornton says he has a long personal connection to the land where the data center project has been proposed.
“When I was a kid, I would fish those streams. I would catch the brook trout, and so I am concerned. I am very concerned about not doing it right,” Thornton said.
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Thornton and other residents concerned about environmental impacts have formed the Stop the Hermantown Data Center group, which is now suing the city.
They are joined in the lawsuit by the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, which is currently suing four other data center projects in Minnesota.
The groups claim Hermantown’s environmental review did not address the actual scale or potential impacts of the project.
“What we’re really looking for is a much more robust environmental study. And you know, when you combine nondisclosure agreements with environmental review, it doesn’t work very well,” Thornton said.
In October, Hermantown adopted an Alternative Urban Areawide Review (AUAR) for the land, a form of environmental review meant to inform governing bodies as they plan and zone.
Kayla Walsh from the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board (EQB) says environmental reviews are information-gathering tools.
“All of the different types of environmental review are an information gathering process and a tool. We really want to stress that it doesn’t pass or fail a project. It doesn’t stop a project. It doesn’t stop a project from being permitted,” Walsh said.
Walsh says the reviews are also meant to provide transparency to the public, something the lawsuit claims Hermantown failed to do.
“If it ended up where they had to do something, let’s do it right. I don’t think it’s being done right,” Thornton said.
The city of Hermantown is not providing a comment at this time due to the pending lawsuit.
The lawsuit is separate from the petition filed through the EQB by Stop the Hermantown Data Center, which has caused a brief pause in the permitting process as the city considers whether it’ll choose to conduct further review.
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