Ypsi Township residents protest U-M, Los Alamos data center at second town hall
Ypsilanti Township residents protested a proposed University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory data center during the project's second town hall. Residents raised concerns about environmental racism, transparency, national security, and the project's potential effects on nearby low-income communities and the Huron River.
Residents of Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, protested outside and during a second University of Michigan town hall about a proposed data center on Textile Road. Community activist Leah Mills-Chapman and Township Supervisor Brenda Stumbo criticized the university for insufficient transparency and argued that the site would place disproportionate environmental and community burdens on a nearby low-income Black neighborhood.
University of Michigan Regent Paul Brown acknowledged the university's responsibility to communicate more effectively, while project lead Steve Ceccio presented information about the site, environmental protections and the partnership with Los Alamos National Laboratory. Residents strongly rejected the project's rationale and questioned why U-M would finance a facility in which it would use only 10% of the computing capacity, with LANL using the remaining 90%.
The meeting also featured concerns about LANL's national-security and nuclear research role, which township attorney Doug Winters described as a potential risk. The panel agreed to hold another meeting, but the project remains planned and opposition is ongoing.