As development looks to move forward with a data center in Michigan City, Ashley Williams encourages her fellow residents to voice concerns with the project.
“No matter what, we will get the word out, and we’ll ensure that folks know that this is happening,” said Williams, Michigan City resident and executive director of Just Transition Northwest Indiana. “We have a very short timeline to bring people out. It’s already such a daunting time to engage people, but we are going to do the best that we can.”
On Dec. 9, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management will hold a public meeting at Michigan City High School regarding a new source construction draft air permit for Project Maize, which will be at 402 Royal Road. The meeting will start at 6 p.m. and will end at 9 p.m., or when all comments have been heard.
The permit is listed for Lavender Fields Holdings LLC, which Williams and other residents believe is a shell corporation for Google.
Before construction and operation can begin, the company must receive the permit from IDEM, according to the Environmental Law and Policy Center.
At the meeting, IDEM staff will describe the air permit and answer questions from the public. It will not include a formal presentation, and attendees will be able to ask questions, make statements and discuss air pollution concerns.
Williams asked IDEM to extend the public comment period by 60 days, reschedule the Dec. 9 meeting, and hold a public meeting and hearing during the extended 60-day comment period.
An IDEM official said in a Wednesday email to the Post-Tribune that it will not postpone the Dec. 9 meeting, and a Dec. 15 deadline for written comment remains in place.
“IDEM is obligated to complete its work to process applications within regulatory timeframes and issue permits, provided the applicant demonstrates that construction and operation of the proposed facility will meet all applicable state and federal regulations,” Natalie Rodriguez, the state agency’s external relations director, said in the email.
Others in Michigan City have also asked for an extension, Williams said.
“My understanding is that it’s sort of been crickets from IDEM,” she added. “Most of their staff, at least a good portion of them, seem to be out for the holiday, which just reaffirms our request and that this is not a good time for us in the community to have to respond to this permit, organize and ensure that enough folks are showing up and meaningfully engaging.”
The department is required to provide a review period of no less than 30 days, which has already been extended to accommodate the Dec. 9 meeting, IDEM said to Williams in an email, which was provided to the Post-Tribune.
“IDEM is blatantly choosing Big Tech over the people that they have repeatedly failed to serve,” Williams said in an email Wednesday. “They are scrooging our communities during this holiday season. Shame on IDEM. Shame on Google, Lavender Fields Holdings LLC, and Phoenix Investors, who intend to install 70 polluting diesel generators in our community with no pollution controls. A one-day extension is egregious, and Michigan City won’t stand for this.”
According to the Environmental Law and Policy Center, the site would have 66 diesel-fired critical emergency generators “that would have no control device to limit emissions and would exhaust outdoors.” It would also have “insignificant activities,” which include two diesel-fired site entrance emergency generators, two diesel-fired fire pump emergency generators, and 70 belly tanks with a “maximum storage capacity of 5,373 gallons to store fuel with no control devices.”
The Environmental Law and Policy Center also said the permit would allow the operator to emit about 245 tons of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide per year.
The operator also agreed to an annual cap on pollution with the emergency generators, but that would allow them to avoid more rigorous reporting.
“It really depends on how accurate they’re reporting,” Williams said. “Tracking and reporting how many hours the generator will run without proper reporting to IDEM and monitoring, the limit is unenforceable.”
Williams also believes the permit does a poor job at explaining federal air pollution standards that apply to generators, which have no limit on how long they can run during a declared emergency.
“They’re simply listing the regulation numbers, which is not enough for the public, company or regulators to clearly understand the rules,” Williams said. “It creates confusion, non-compliance and further gaps.”
Williams is concerned that the development will continue to bring pollution to Michigan City, and she believes the permit must do a better job at limiting the amount released once the data center is in operation.
“We believe this is just the beginning,” Williams said. “This is just phase one. We think they’re going to back through the door and say, ‘Oh no, we want two times, three times, five times more generators.’ … We need to ensure that we are slamming that door closed and say, ‘No, that is not happening anymore.’”
Phoenix Investors, owner of 402 Royal Road, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The end user for the data center has yet to be announced, but Williams and other residents suspect it will be Google.
In September, the Michigan City Common Council passed four resolutions that would allow the construction of a more than $800 million data center at 402 Royal Road, according to Post-Tribune archives.
In July, Michigan City Mayor Angie Nelson Deuitch said in a statement that her administration and council members entered into non-disclosure agreements to review the concept in a confidential executive session, and no formal agreement was reached at the time.
Resolutions provided multiple tax abatements, designated the area as an economic revitalization area and approved a taxpayer agreement for Project Maize, also known as the data center development.
According to Local 150, Project Maize has received $42 million in tax incentives through the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, and the lead contractors have hired workers from Wisconsin, Ohio and Alabama, which the union opposes. Local politicians have also expressed concerns that the project has hired out-of-state workers instead of union and local workers.
Kelley Smith, an administrator for the Michigan City Mayor’s Office, previously told the Post-Tribune that Project Maize is a private project and the city isn’t involved with the construction. Smith said Nelson Deuitch is supportive of the local workforce, and other unions are working at the site, including Local 210 plumbers, Local 1485 carpenters and Local 531 electricians, according to Post-Tribune archives.
“Neither the mayor nor any other city official can decide who gets hired to work at Project Maize,” Smith previously said. “The city does not have the authority to tell any private developer building a private project that they must fire their current workers and give those jobs to local people.”
Williams and other members of JTNWI have expressed concerns with labor and the environmental impacts of Project Maize for months. JTNWI started an accountability campaign after IDEM, on Oct. 9, cited Phoenix Investors with a violation letter at the data center site, according to Post-Tribune archives.
According to the violation, IDEM found trichloroethylene, or TCE, at the site, which the National Cancer Institute defines as a “volatile, colorless liquid organic chemical” that can be found in the air, water and soil, and has been linked to cancer, kidney disease, Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and cardiac defects.
“Good-faith development helps communities work together,” Williams previously told the Post-Tribune. “Bad-faith development has neighbors looking over their shoulders. … Phoenix has demonstrated that it is not a good neighbor and must continue to be held accountable for its actions and those of the project’s suspected end user, Google.”
mwilkins@chicagotribune.com