Amazon's Walla Walla data center plan sparks tension between protesters, local officials
Opponents of Amazon's planned $4.8 billion data center development near Walla Walla are demanding an environmental impact statement and a moratorium on new data centers. The project remains in the permitting and public-comment stage, while county officials say it is allowed under existing industrial zoning and may not be stopped by a moratorium.
More than 400 Washington residents participated in demonstrations calling for a statewide data center moratorium, including about 60 people in Walla Walla. The Walla Walla Anti-Data Center League has collected nearly 1,900 signatures on petitions and is pressing County Community Development Director Melissa Shumake to require Amazon to prepare a full environmental impact statement for its proposed Wallula Gap Business Park project.
Amazon's first phase would include three data centers, with plans for as many as 16 facilities across the 550-acre site. The company estimates the project could use up to 18 million gallons of surface water annually for cooling and 6 million gallons of groundwater for domestic purposes, while opponents fear excessive consumption and aquifer contamination. County officials, including Commissioner Todd Kimball and Shumake, say the project is proceeding through permitting in an industrial zone and that a moratorium would not affect its application because it is protected by existing rules. The county's public-comment period runs through Oct. 12.