Palm Beach County Rejects Expansion of Data Center Near the Everglades
Palm Beach County Commissioners rejected an application to expand the 600-megawatt Project Tango data center near the Everglades. The decision followed concerns from residents about noise, traffic, and property values, as well as environmental worries regarding heat pollution and cyanobacterial blooms. Commissioners are also set to vote on a moratorium for large data centers next month.
Palm Beach County Commissioners in Florida voted 5 to 1 to reject a proposal by PBA Holdings Inc. to expand the planned 600-megawatt Project Tango data center. The facility, proposed on a 202-acre site, is located near the northern boundary of the Everglades, approximately 26 km west of Mar-a-Lago.
During a 12-hour hearing, local residents voiced significant concerns about the data center's proximity to an elementary school (1,200 feet away), citing potential issues with noise, traffic, heat pollution, declining property values, and increased electricity bills. Environmentalists, including Reinaldo Diaz, founder of Lake Worth Waterkeeper, raised alarms that heat from the data center could elevate water temperatures in systems connected to the Everglades, exacerbating toxic cyanobacterial blooms. The area's canals already contain phosphorus and nitrogen from agricultural runoff, and the site is across from a pumping station critical for freshwater supply to the southern Everglades.
While PBA Holdings Inc. stated the data center would use a closed-loop cooling system to minimize water consumption, a commissioned impact assessment acknowledged a potential 1–2°C increase in air temperature near cooling equipment, without addressing the cyanobacterial bloom risk. The developers still have two administrative applications pending. Furthermore, Palm Beach County commissioners are scheduled to vote next month on a moratorium on large data centers, following similar restrictions already implemented in several other Florida counties.