Overview:
Proposed by Logistics Land Investments, LLC, Project Marvel would be one of the largest data centers in the U.S., covering 700 acres of land. It would also become Alabama's largest consumer of electricity and another large industrial polluter in the region.
The developers behind Project Marvel, the massive, controversial $14 billion data center proposed for a wooded area on the edge of the majority-Black city of Bessemer, Alabama, are a step closer to breaking ground.
Earlier this month, the Bessemer City Council voted to change city zoning to allow for data center projects in areas zoned for light industrial use. The council also rezoned a number of properties from agricultural to light industrial use, including the parcel that Project Marvel is proposed for.
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The vote came despite broad public opposition, environmentalists’ warnings about the “hyper-scale” project’s environmental impact, and lingering questions about why Mayor Kenneth Gulley and other city officials signed non-disclosure agreements with the developers. But council members insisted the vote was about data centers writ large, and not Project Marvel.
“All we’re doing is adding the data center to the zoning ordinance in place,” Donna Thigpen, Bessemer’s city council president, said after the vote. “This is nothing to do with that particular property. It has been suggested that there’s other properties that might be more suitable or more favorable. But to do that, even in another place, this would have to be added.”
All we’re doing is adding the data center to the zoning ordinance in place.
DONNA THIGPEN, PRESIDENT, BESSEMER CITY COUNCIL
Gulley, the mayor, said the data center “represents a tremendous investment in Bessemer and in Alabama,” which is sorely needed. “By referring the rezoning request back to the Planning and Zoning Commission, we are making sure that every detail is addressed properly, so the project can proceed on the strongest possible foundation.”
The proposal calls for building a 4.5 million square-foot facility with the footprint of 18 Walmart Supercenters. The banks and banks of computer processors that would whir away inside would consume enough electricity to power the city of Seattle.
Despite reassurances from Bessemer officials, experts say it’s highly likely that Project Marvel would increase air pollution for the residents of Bessemer, already struggling with more than their share of industrial emissions. The center would also use staggering amounts of water to cool the computers. That’s made the project a major environmental justice battle, drawing in the NAACP.
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The city council meeting on the zoning changes was packed to overflowing for the vote. Many people who weren’t able to get inside the chamber itself were frustrated that they would not get their say about the zoning change.
City government is “myopic. They don’t want to listen to anybody,” Ron Morgan, who owns property adjacent to the Marvel parcel, told AL.com. “They’re going to do exactly what they want to do, regardless of the results, regardless of the consequences. All they see is money.”
The next hearing on the data center proposal is set for Nov. 18 at 9 a.m.