BROADVIEW — About 130 people attended a Monday night meeting at the Broadview Senior Center to learned about a proposed new data center in Yellowstone County.
Watch the meeting highlights:
The meeting was organized by environmental and community groups and featured a panel of environmental experts addressing the crowd in Broadview, where the controversial facility could be built. Most of those in attendance say they still have serious concerns.
One panelist, Anne Hedges, the executive director of the Montana Environmental Information Center, said she wants people to know the facts about data centers before they get the ok to be built in Montana.
“We are not saying no to data centers. We are saying they need to come here on our terms," Hedges said.
The meeting was the second of its kind focused on the proposal development from Quantica Infrastructure, which has proposed building the data center on 5,000 acres about three miles south of town. The company has said it's trying to capitalize on the boom in artificial intelligence and bring development and jobs to Montana.
A previous meeting at Rocky Mountain College in Billings drew over 100 people.
Hedges said she believes the people behind the proposed data center near Broadview in Yellowstone County still need to explain how building the center won’t have a negative impact on Montana.
“They need to come here in a way that does not harm those of us who already live here. Doesn’t increase our electricity bills. Doesn’t harm our water resources. Doesn’t cause contamination of water," she said.
Many of those in attendance – such as Nancy Buroff - had serious concerns about how a data center could change the area.
"I don’t want the influx of people. I see our land here as pristine. It’s so pristine," she said.
Cari Olson, a Broadview area resident who helped organize the event, believes more discussions need to happen before a data center is approved in Yellowstone County.
“Every time that one of these gets built, it affects us all,“ she said.
Olson says while data centers go a long way helping in the information age – they may not deliver all that is promised to the local community.
“Because the electricity is so bad. The water is so awful. And it doesn’t create the jobs,” she said.
Others at the meeting saw things differently, including Clint McCulloch, the president of the Southeast Montana Building Trades Council.
“At this forum, there’s no seat at the table. You get to sit in here and listen,” he said.
McCulloch said he believes the workers he represents would benefit from building the data center.
“There is a workforce right here in Yellowstone County and Montana that can work and build that facility.”
And he says forums like this one leave out the voices of those who may support data centers.
“I can’t speak for anybody except for the labor I represent, but we would sit down and have an open conversation,” he said.
Related:
Proposed AI data center sparks debate in rural Montana
Proposed AI data centers raise environmental concerns in Montana
