Google's Project Skye: Wetlands public comment deadline arrives Tuesday
The deadline for public comment on Google's Project Skye, a proposed data center campus in Chesterfield County, Virginia, has arrived. The project involves four data centers and is projected to permanently destroy nearly 18 acres of forested wetlands and impact stream channels. Google has proposed mitigation efforts, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will make the final decision on the permit.
The public comment period for Google's proposed "Project Skye" data center campus in Chesterfield County, Virginia, concluded on Tuesday. The project, located south of Genito Road near Mosley Road, involves the construction of four data centers, three substations, parking facilities, roads, utilities, and stormwater management systems on an 880-plus-acre property.
According to the permit application filed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the development is projected to permanently destroy 17.99 acres of palustrine forested wetlands and affect 8,115 linear feet of stream channel associated with Deep Creek, a tributary of the James River. Additionally, 7.23 acres of forested wetlands would be converted to a less ecologically valuable type, and 125 linear feet of stream channel would be temporarily impacted during construction.
To offset these unavoidable environmental damages, Google has proposed purchasing 43.31 wetland credits and 9,213 stream credits from approved mitigation banks. The company also states its commitment to minimizing impacts by crossing stream channels perpendicularly, positioning stormwater basins to maintain pre-development water flow, and preserving a significant portion of the on-site wetland acres and stream channels.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for making the final determination on the sufficiency of Google's proposed mitigation plan to compensate for the losses to U.S. waters.