Laurens County Commission says ‘nothing going on’ with data centers in county

Laurens County is not pursuing a data center, members of the County Commission assured dozens of concerned residents who packed their noon meeting on Tuesday.

In fact, they’ve never discussed it, Chairman Jimmy Rogers said.

“There is nothing going on with data centers in Laurens County,” said Rogers. “It is not in our vocabulary. In my seven and a half years on this board, we have never even talked about it.”

The standing-room-only crowd turned out after social media posts and media reports over the past two weeks called attention to a federal grant application that mentioned the former Mohawk carpet plant as a possible location for a data center. The Heart of Georgia Altamaha Regional Commission, a quasi-governmental planning agency, applied for funding to potentially test sites for environmental contamination.

The Mohawk property was among them, and one of its identified uses suggested in the application was as a data center. The application, Regional Commission executive director Brett Manning told the crowd, was rejected anyway.

“We had to list some potential uses. There was no government entity, no industry tied to this application,” said Manning, who later admitted that section of the grant application “could have been written better.”

Residents came prepared with research and prepared statements on the detrimental effects that data centers can have on communities, ranging from harm to wildlife and livestock to depleted water supplies and diminished quality of life from constant noice and light.

“We’re here to demand that data centers be banned outright. Not delayed. No moratoriums,” said Vonda Morton, one of almost a dozen residents who addressed the board. “We’re being proactive, not reactive. … We do not want and we do not need data centers in Laurens County.”

Rae Bloodworth also asked that the commission adopt “protective ordinances” for when a data center does try to locate here.

“Please protect our resources,” she said.

Rogers encouraged residents to contact their commissioners with concerns rather than accept rumors on social media. He blamed the data center controversy on “misinformation” spread for political gain.

“We don’t hide ‘behind closed doors’ or meet in ‘backrooms.'” Rogers said. “When misinformation gets out, it runs like wildfire.”

Joe Powers, the Democrat candidate for state representative for District 155, admitted to being “the person who created this conversation,” saying he posted about the application to generate community involvement. 

Powers asked that the commission consider an 18-month moratorium on data centers and related businesses.