Formal protests start to pour in for Stratos data center’s 2nd water rights change request
Hundreds of formal protests have been filed against the Stratos data center's second water rights change application in Salt Lake City, Utah, following a previous application that drew thousands of protests before being withdrawn. The Friends of Great Salt Lake organization is encouraging public opposition, citing a lack of detailed information in the application. O'Leary Digital, the developer, plans to refile with more details.
Hundreds of formal protests have quickly accumulated against a second water rights change application for the proposed Stratos data center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The application, filed with the Utah Division of Water Rights, opened for public response on Wednesday morning, prompting well over 300 formal objections by Wednesday afternoon.
Rob Dubuc, General Counsel for Friends of Great Salt Lake, expressed encouragement regarding the public's engagement. His organization had previously spearheaded protests against an earlier application seeking 1,900 acre-feet of water, which garnered approximately 4,000 formal protests before being withdrawn by the developers. The current application seeks a much smaller 11 acre-feet, but Dubuc anticipates more applications will follow as the project's complex water needs are addressed.
Dubuc criticized the current filing, describing it as a 'cut-and-paste' of the initial application and lacking substantive information. Meanwhile, Paul Palandjian, CEO of O'Leary Digital, the company behind the project, confirmed their intention to refile with additional information to better suit the specific project. Palandjian previously stated that the data center's water requirements would be less than what is currently used for farming and ranching on the same land. Friends of Great Salt Lake vowed to continue monitoring future water rights applications and encouraging public protest.