Environmental group sues city over Tesla data center water-use records
An environmental group, Save Our Springs Alliance, has sued the City of Austin for allegedly over-redacting water usage records related to a proposed Tesla data center. This lawsuit comes as the Austin City Council is considering a ban on large- and hyperscale data centers within city limits, citing mounting opposition to the industry.
The environmental group Save Our Springs Alliance has filed a lawsuit against the City of Austin, alleging the city wrongfully redacted records concerning water usage information for a proposed Tesla data center. The group requested water service extension records for data centers, and while the city released unredacted documents for a smaller Stantec facility, Tesla objected to the release of its own records, claiming trade secrets. Despite the Attorney General's Office concluding that Tesla had not justified withholding some information and directing the city to release them, Save Our Springs received a heavily redacted 15-page document.
Bobby Levinski, senior attorney for Save Our Springs, stated that the lawsuit, filed in Travis County's 98th District Court, challenges the extent of the redactions, questioning whether the city or Tesla overstepped traditional definitions of trade secrets. This legal action unfolds as the Austin City Council is actively pursuing a ban on large- and hyperscale data centers within city limits. Council member Ryan Alter indicated an intent to vote on such a ban by the end of the year, following increasing public opposition and concerns about the industry's resource demands, despite Austin Water's assessment that current data centers use less than 0.3% of the city's total water.