Hallam residents pack town hall for Monolith's proposed data center expansion

Hallam, Nebraska, residents packed a town hall meeting to express significant concerns regarding Monolith's proposed expansion of its Olive Creek facility, which includes a 35-megawatt co-located data center in partnership with Crusoe. The project also involves adding four carbon black units. Residents voiced worries about the lack of transparency, potential environmental impacts such as increased noise and light pollution, and significant water usage estimates of approximately 770,000 gallons annually for the data center alone, in addition to water for carbon black units.

Monolith, represented by CEO Russell Webb and Chief Development Officer Anna Wishart, highlighted Crusoe's efficiency and modular "Spark" units, which are comparable to shipping containers and have a lower profile than previously planned ammonia facilities. They also touted the creation of 15 high-paying data center jobs and 150 carbon black expansion jobs, emphasizing Monolith's history as a community partner.

The company is seeking a text amendment to the village's ordinance to designate co-located data centers as a "principal permitted use in I-2 District," along with site plan approval from the Hallam planning commission, with a target approval date of September 7. Residents like Cami Slauson and Kathy Stevens criticized the transparency of the process and expressed fears about Hallam becoming a "guinea pig" for tech experiments, citing concerns for livestock and the cumulative impact of industrial growth, including nearby Nebraska Public Power District expansions and solar farms. A noise study by Crusoe is underway, but no completion date was provided. Residents will have another opportunity to learn about the project at the August 3 Hallam Village board meeting.