Bessemer, Alabama, City Officials Signed Non-Disclosure Agreement for Data Center Project
Bessemer, Alabama city leaders signed a strict non-disclosure agreement with developers for "Project Marvel," a massive data center. This NDA, which concealed project details and developers like QTS, became public after environmental groups threatened legal action. The project faces widespread community opposition over environmental concerns, high electricity and water usage, and lack of transparency.
Bessemer, Alabama city leaders, including Mayor Kenneth Gulley, chief of staff Christoper Warrer, and city attorney Aaron Killings, signed a strict non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with developers behind "Project Marvel," a proposed 4.5 million square foot data center. The agreement, which aimed to keep public details about the massive facility under wraps, required the city to destroy confidential project-related information and banned the disclosure of developer identities or site plans.
This NDA came to light after two environmental groups, the Southern Environmental Law Center and the Alabama Rivers Alliance, sued the city, citing Alabama's public records laws and forcing the disclosure. Ryan Anderson, attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, expressed concern over the city's refusal to comply with basic transparency laws, while Charles Miller of the Alabama Rivers Alliance called it "absurd" for officials to be more accountable to out-of-state developers than to their constituents.
QTS Data Centers has since been identified as one of the companies behind Project Marvel. The company, headquartered in Kansas and Virginia, issued a statement committing to transparent engagement as planning continues, despite the controversy surrounding the NDA. The project is enormous, slated to occupy 1,600 acres of forest and requiring up to 1,200 megawatts of power and 2 million gallons of water daily.
The project has sparked widespread opposition from Bessemer residents concerned about increased pollution, strain on local resources, and deepened environmental inequities in the predominantly Black community. The city recently rezoned the property from agricultural to industrial use to accommodate the development, further fueling community concerns.