Minnesota Star Tribune reports….
Google’s controversial northeast Minnesota data center proposal has “gaps” and “deficiencies,” the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said of its final environmental review. But the agency stopped short of objecting to it.
In a late August letter to the city of Hermantown the state agency wrote that the second environmental review of the forested 234-acre site leaves several questions unanswered. But as the governmental unit in charge of the project, state law dictates the city has the legal authority to decide whether the review is adequate. Its City Council could vote on it this month.
The specifics from the DNR…
The DNR said the review inaccurately described it as an agency tasked with ensuring project compliance for ground and stormwater. It’s not and that expectation could “create a false public expectation about MNDNR oversight,” Kuskie wrote in her letter to the city.
Other DNR concerns include:
- The project’s proximity to a Minnesota Power substation, where the utility is expanding, in part, for the data center. The effects of that should be studied, the agency said.
- Inadequate baseline data for groundwater, which was gathered during a year of drought.
- The project’s location near trout streams and on wetlands, and a need for more information on how they will be protected or have harm minimized.
Opinions from other organizations…
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, which does have authority over some parts of the project, said the plan needs to describe other potential sites that were explored. Echoing the DNR’s concerns about wetlands and native brook trout, the agency said Google needs to make a better case for the chosen site.
And…
The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, in a lengthy joint response with Cure, a Minnesota-based environmental consultant, said the review didn’t do enough.