Myth #4: Data Centers Don’t Impact Surrounding Land

Data center developers like to say that the impact on land isn’t that bad – we won’t even notice it. That’s just not true. Hyper scale data centers require converting hundreds of acres of quiet farmland to a huge industrial property. Once that land is converted to industrial – it will be lost for generations. Consider the Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant. The plant was developed in 1941 and closed 51 years later in 1993. After the closure it sat vacant until 2001 and is now in the process of being redeveloped into a plant for Panasonic. That rural land was lost in 1941 and there’s no end in sight for industrial use.

What happens when farmland is lost:

1. Food production permanently declines

• Once farmland is developed, it almost never returns to agriculture
• Reduces local and regional food supply
• Increases reliance on imported food
• You can rebuild buildings—not soil

2. Water systems are disrupted
Farmland allows rain to soak into soil. Development adds pavement and potentially millions of square feet of roof causing runoff and flooding of local streams, instead of aquafer recharge.

Converting farmland to impervious rooftops and pavement increases:

• Flooding risk
• Water pollution
• Groundwater depletion

Less farmland = less natural water filtration

3. Local climate gets hotter and less stable
Replacing with buildings means increased heat retention. Structures and pavement hold heat like batteries which discharge heat as the day cools. This can lead to higher localized temperatures surrounding the data center which fundamentally changes the nature of surrounding areas. This can decrease production for neighboring farms and impact local wildlife.

Green land cools—industrial land heats.

4. Wildlife and ecosystems disappear. Farms and surrounding land support pollinators, birds and small animals. Development for a data center destroys local habitat and disrupts instinctual patterns of wildlife.

Loss of farmland = loss of biodiversity.

5. Rural character and property value impacts
A data center changes the feel and identity of the area. Nearby neighborhood and rural residential development will come to a screeching halt. Property values will plummet and resale will be incredibly difficult. Nobody wants to live near a large data center. Refer to the map on the homepage of this site to see how many residential properties and communities are in the Spring Hill area. Imagine wiping out a two mile circle of that residential value and tranquility. Lower property values means the land will become more interesting to other developers and before you know it, industrial will spread further and further out from the data center. Our area would forever be changed.

6. Economic shift away from local sustainability. Data centers only employ a few dozen people The impact of losing that farmland will be felt by a lot of other people, working for a lot of other industries in the area. Losing farmland to a data center would impact:

• Ag Equipment suppliers
• Grain elevators
• Ag employment opportunities
• Local parts suppliers
• Local service companies
• Local restaurants
• Local banks

… and so much more. The ripple effect would be profound on the community over time. Data center developers sell short-term gains while not talking about generational changes to an area.

Industrial use often:

• Employs fewer local workers long-term
• Centralizes profits outside the community
• Short-term gain, long-term shift away from local economy

Bottom line: When farmland is gone, it’s gone for generations.