Ypsilanti Township Halts Data Centers' Water Supply

0:00It's April 17th. Welcome to Canada News today, powered by AI. Ipsilanti Township's board just unanimously greenlit a 12-month hold on supplying water to data centers. They're pushing back hard against the $1.2 billion high-performance computing facility planned by the University of Michigan and Loss. Alamos National Laboratory, right in their backyard. That project alone could guzzle up to 500,000 gallons of water daily and the board wants the Ipsilanti Community Utilities Authority, too. Run full environmental and water studies first. Earlier this week, this resolution followed another one from late March, straight up opposing the site for that U of M and Los Alamos spot. Meanwhile, there's another big data center proposal from Thor equities in nearby Augusta Township that might need a million gallons a day, also in the utility service area. The YCUA supplies water and sewer to communities across Washington and Wayne counties, so they're feeling the pressure.

1:01Folks in the Township are fired up about the strain on resources from limited wastewater capacity to potential pollution and heated discharge water. Officials worry it'll hit residents, businesses, and housing hard, barring from future generations without solid plans. Township leaders say no one's cheering for these centers, calling out the state's rush-on tax breaks that lured them here. The Utilities Director says they'll tackle the moratorium request at their April 22nd board meeting and plans to launch those recommended. Studies on capacity, finances, and infrastructure soon. U of M pushes back, noting the facility would create 200 jobs in boost work in medicine, climate science, energy, and security, plus there, exempt from local zoning as a public university. With more resolutions coming on noise and power use, this pause signals Township stepping up where the state didn't, keeping a close watch on how. Data centers reshape local water and life.