Seven Years of Lies: Chesterfield’s Data Center Expansion and Broken Public Trust

Jul 22

By now, you’ve probably heard the news. The Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors hid critical information from residents living near or moving to the Swift Creek Reservoir. For seven years, our elected representatives operated behind an undisclosed Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with Google.

Behind closed doors, they held private meetings with legacy land developers, altered Virginia’s laws and codes via some legislators with clear conflicts, and deregulated our county to make it cheap and easy for Google to expand. These backroom deals were only legal because the very legislative body making them rewrote the rules to fit their purpose.

Former Governor Glenn Youngkin championed the mantra “Virginia is the State for Business,” cementing a backdoor investment of taxpayer dollars into Google’s expansion. Less than 24 hours ago, Governor Abigail Spanberger echoed that exact sentiment on Instagram, quoting the same phrase, I’m guessing to bolster her approval ratings and appeal to political opponents.

Regardless of politics, one thing is clear: leadership at both the state and local levels has turned its back on the voters who did the work to put them in office.

Google’s “Meet and Greet” Style Info Session

Google recently hosted a community meeting that I have sarcastically renamed their “meet and greet.” One thing was abundantly clear at that meeting: Google’s corporate view of Chesterfield’s residents is one of compliance, viewing us as frankly irrelevant to Google’s strategy.

Google opted to invest years ago in the Board of Supervisors and some other elected officials over residents. They captured the board, the delegates, and the regulators. We, the residents and transplants, were lured to new construction homes and developments to pay for the pleasure of being duped into a data center wasteland.

The elected got seven years of meetings, meals, planning, and time with Google’s former President.

What did residents get? Deferred notice, cheap props, and an underwhelming PR experience that was like attending a school science fair with no actual data.

The event featured cheap plastic tablecloths, an unmanned table with two flimsy handouts that would never stand up to fact-checking, and printed QR codes. When residents asked polite questions, the responses from Google representatives only raised more alarms.

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Here’s a quick breakdown.

Noise Pollution: When asked about decibels and acoustic impact, the Google representative admitted he didn’t know what noise levels would be emitted, passing the buck to regulatory bodies and admitting there were no studies on how this would affect the kids in the schools next to the noise.

Diesel Generator Emissions: The facility plans to run diesel backup generators at least once a month. While newer generators include filtration systems, older stacks on the exact same site will remain unfiltered simply because they were approved before newer regulations took effect. Google offered no explanation for why they won’t voluntarily filter the entire facility.

Water Pollution: Google has to treat the water used for cooling with chemicals. When I asked if they planned to purify the discharge, the response was that the chemically saturated water would be treated by Chesterfield’s wastewater facilities. I asked if Google was only using regulated chemicals, and the response was no. Not only weren’t they sure of all the chemicals, they only test for what is regulated. That’s a rabbit hole we can’t even begin to address here. I asked if Google would pay a higher rate than households considering that their discharge was more chemically saturated, and the answer was no.

Refusal of Public Dialogue: When a resident requested a formal town hall, Google’s PR representative flatly refused, stating that town halls become “scream halls.” The tone was dismissive, disrespectful, and final.

Devalued, Disrespected, and Dismissed

Google believes it can take whatever it wants because our local leaders gave them the green light. Key figures who facilitated this deal move on, are not reelected, or retire leaving leaving residents to deal with the fallout.

Meanwhile, Chesterfield handed Google a rock-bottom equipment tax rate cut of just $0.25 per $100 of assessed value while neighboring counties secured $3.09 to $3.50 per $100.

Our representatives literally sold us out for pennies on the dollar, leaving our community with noise and air pollution from massive diesel generator arrays, risks to local watersheds surrounding the Swift Creek Reservoir, and higher infrastructure costs with virtually no return on local tax revenue.

Here’s my question: Can homeowners who recently purchased in surrounding neighborhoods sue the Board of Supervisors for withholding material information about the data center expansion?

Public figures like former Delegate Carrie Coyner were actively involved with both the Google project and nearby residential developments like Rountrey. If developers and officials knew about these data center plans prior to selling residential lots, does failing to disclose that impact to home buyers constitute actionable fraud? Is her legacy development family ensuring that no investigations occur? It is odd what happened at the EnRichmond Foundation as well as with Covenant Building and Design. Millions stolen from taxpayers in both cases, no action taken by the state, Rudy Coyner representing both. Weird.

Tonight’s Board of Supervisors meeting is where we demand answers, but they only gave citizens 15 minutes of their 6-hour meeting. Are we mad enough yet? Our homes, our water, and our public trust are not for sale. Let me know your thoughts below. I’ve got you covered on the info for the meeting there as well.