The Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday calling for a 12-month pause on providing water for .
The board is opposed to the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory鈥檚 plan for a in the township. A University of Michigan official Planet Detroit its project could use up to 500,000 gallons of water a day.
The urges the Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority (YCUA) to plan and complete several environmental and water system studies before committing to serve data centers or large computing facilities.
YCUA Executive Director Luke Blackburn told Planet Detroit the utility will address the township鈥檚 request for a moratorium at its April 22 .
Ypsilanti Township Supervisor Brenda Stumbo and Ypsilanti Township Trustee Gloria Peterson both serve on the YCUA Board of Commissioners.
The utility supplies and to multiple communities in Washtenaw and Wayne counties.
Thor Equities鈥� proposed data center in Augusta Township is also within YCUA鈥檚 service territory. MLive last year that the project, which is the subject of in August, could use 1 million gallons of water daily.
Planet Detroit contacted the University of Michigan and Thor Equities for comment on the Ypsilanti Township resolution.
In an online statement, the university its project, which it calls a 鈥渉igh-performance computing facility,鈥� will create 200 jobs and support public projects in medicine, climate science, energy, and national security.
As a public university, U of M is exempt from local zoning requirements 鈥� meaning the project does not require township approval.
Ypsilanti water system director: Data centers could impact capacity
Ypsilanti Township Attorney Doug Winters said it鈥檚 necessary to 鈥渉it the pause button鈥� on data center developments to assess potential impacts to the environment or the township鈥檚 ability to accommodate other businesses and housing developments.
He drew attention to what he said is the YCUA wastewater treatment plant鈥檚 limited capacity.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e borrowing this land, these resources, from future generations 鈥� you have the absolute responsibility to ensure that what you return to the waters is going to be safe,鈥� Winters said.
The YCUA鈥檚 Blackburn told Planet Detroit that providing service to multiple hyperscale data centers could impact capacity within the utility鈥檚 collection system and Water Resource Recovery Facility.
The township鈥檚 resolution raises concerns over data centers鈥� potential to produce massive amounts of wastewater, chemical pollution, or water that has been warmed by cooling systems.
The township has insufficient evidence the YCUA can meet the large water and sewer demands of data centers, artificial intelligence computing centers, and high-performance computing centers without impacting other residential, commercial, and industrial customers, the resolution states.
The township resolution calls for several studies recommended by the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and Water Environment Federation (WEF) that would evaluate the long-term capacity of the drinking water, wastewater, and sewer systems; financial impacts on other ratepayers; and infrastructure and capital planning impacts. It also pushes for environmental and emergency response reviews.
Blackburn said the utility plans to perform the studies recommended by the AWWA and WEF in accordance with the township鈥檚 resolutions.
Water resolution follows township鈥檚 push to block U of M project
Wednesday night鈥檚 vote follows a adopted March 31 that declared the Ypsilanti Township board鈥檚 opposition to siting the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory鈥檚 data center project anywhere in the township.
This marked an escalation in the board鈥檚 position on the project, with officials previously voicing serious concerns about the university鈥檚 treatment of the township, but to a site near Willow Run airport.
The March resolution emphasized Los Alamos鈥� work on nuclear weapons research and referred to the facility as a 鈥淭ier 1鈥� high value target for terrorists and foreign adversaries that could transform the township from 鈥渁 civilian community into a potential target zone.鈥�
A Los Alamos official told in January that it would perform nuclear weapons research at the proposed Ypsilanti Township facility.
Township attorney Winters said Wednesday鈥檚 resolution is not focused on any particular data center. More resolutions to address data center noise and power use are forthcoming, he said.
Winters said data centers are flocking to Michigan because of its water, energy, and . The township board is performing the due diligence the state should have done when it rushed to approve the tax incentives, he said.
Ypsilanti Township Supervisor Stumbo said during Wednesday night鈥檚 meeting that she hasn鈥檛 spoken to anyone who supports data centers and called attention to the strain the projects place on residents.
鈥淭he stress that the state of Michigan has put on not only our residents, but on all residents in the state of Michigan, it鈥檚 unforgivable.鈥�
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