San Gabriel Valley residents unite in fight against proposed Puente Hills Mall data center

Since mid-December, residents of California's San Gabriel Valley have been actively mobilizing against the City of Industry's plans to transform the Puente Hills Mall into a data center. This proposed facility, intended to house large computers for Artificial Intelligence, has sparked widespread opposition due to concerns about potential environmental hazards and impacts on surrounding communities. Environmental activist Samuel Brown Vazquez and Whittier resident Sophia Ramirez initiated efforts to uncover details, filing Freedom of Information Act requests. These documents revealed that the City of Industry was approving zoning changes to allow the data center, along with two battery centers. Residents fear increased pollution, fire risks, rising local temperatures, and higher costs for homeowners' insurance, electricity, and water bills, particularly given the data center's proximity to the San Gabriel Valley River. Community members, as relayed by Ramirez, express concern for their families' health and criticize the development as a product of "capitalist greed" with disregard for working-class and immigrant communities. Challenges in engaging with local government have exacerbated tensions. Manuel Maldonado, a long-time resident, highlights language barriers for the predominantly Latino and Asian communities, noting the City of Industry Council's failure to provide interpretation services at meetings. Residents also report reduced comment times and deactivated council emails. Steven Kung, co-founder of No Data Center Monterey Park, where a similar data center project was successfully blocked, suggests the San Gabriel Valley is being targeted due to perceived vulnerabilities in its communities of color, a practice he terms "environmental racism." Despite these hurdles, the "No Data Centers SGV Coalition" is growing, drawing inspiration from Monterey Park's success. The coalition, comprising various local groups, is actively organizing, canvassing, and strategizing to halt the data center's construction. City Council meetings have seen unprecedented attendance, often overflowing, indicating a galvanized community determined to prevent the project and shape the future of their society against what they perceive as the unchecked expansion of AI infrastructure.