The City of Farmington in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been sued over the construction of a data center in the city. Councilors had approved a data center belonging to Grant van Rooyen’s Tract, by a vote of 4-1. The data center is now facing a lawsuit from the Coalition for Responsible Data Center Development, a group comprising community members living in the Farmington and Castle Rock Townships.
The lawsuit claims Tract has a “proven history of preying on unsuspecting small municipalities in states that have no regulation on the data center building industry,” adding that data center growth in these cities is placing constraints on water and electricity, incurring increased costs for local residents.
In a comment, Graham Williams, chief investment officer at Tract, said: "We are engaged in projects across the country that aim to responsibly develop data center infrastructure in a way that creates overwhelmingly positive impacts for host communities, which involve public processes where all community voices are heard. In Farmington, there were multiple public hearings and favorable votes at both the Planning Board and City Council, where all the interests of Farmington citizens were considered.
