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Lance W. Gurel: Commission must use data center moratorium to craft protections for Spokane County
The Spokane County Commission unanimously extended its pause on data center permitting through June 1. In this opinion column, Lance W. Gurel urges commissioners to use the extra time to establish permanent protections against PFAS contamination and adopt enforceable standards for water use, electricity demand, emissions, noise and wastewater.
The Spokane County Commission voted unanimously on Oct. 20 to extend Spokane County’s data center permitting moratorium through June 1. Columnist Lance W. Gurel argues that commissioners already have enough information to begin making environmental decisions rather than repeatedly delaying them.
Gurel points to PFAS contamination associated with firefighting foam at Fairchild Air Force Base and calls for permanent restrictions on PFAS-based industrial cooling systems. He also advocates voting representation for local environmental organizations in county policymaking and firm requirements covering data center water consumption, electricity demand, emissions, noise, wastewater, monitoring and decommissioning.