Conservation groups oppose proposed water treatment plant near Great Salt Lake

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox in May issued an executive order in response to public pushback against data center development, requiring state agencies to prioritize protecting water resources, including the Great Salt Lake.

The order also directed the state to protect air quality, mitigate the impacts to wildlife, and ensure any data center developments "align with Utah's long-term interests," among other things.

"Utahns have raised important questions about the impact large data centers could have on water, air quality, utility rates and quality of life," Cox said in May. "Those concerns deserve to be taken seriously. This executive order establishes a higher bar for how these projects are evaluated and ensures that economic strength and environmental stewardship go hand in hand."

Now, Utah conservation and advocacy groups say the executive order is facing its first true test in the form of a wastewater discharge permit proposed for Tooele County they say would threaten the Great Salt Lake and the species that call the lake and its wetlands home.

On Monday, the Utah Division of Water Quality hosted a public hearing at 195 N. 1950 West, where members of the public, advocates and other Great Salt Lake stakeholders are expected to testify.

What's the worry?

According to the hearing notice, the Tooele Valley Public Infrastructure District is proposing the wastewater treatment plant located near the Burmester Road exit off I-80 in Tooele County.

The facility is being proposed to treat groundwater and provide potable water for the Interstate Business Park, which operates within the Utah Inland Port Authority's Tooele Valley Project Area.

The business park's website notes that it's "strategically designed" for data centers, along with manufacturing and logistics operations.

Despite the Interstate Business Park advertising its data center-readiness, Utah Inland Port Authority Director Ben Hart told KSL that the authority is in favor of "holding things until everyone's certain what these impacts are."

"We're not working behind the scenes to try and get a data center out there. On the contrary, we're trying to make sure that processes are followed and that we're doing everything we can to understand and limit any impacts for development in this area as well," Hart said.

It's unclear if there's an actual proposal for a data center in the project area, or if the business park is just touting its capabilities to someday host a data center.

Developers tied to Interstate Business Park didn't respond to requests for comment from KSL.

As part of the treatment process, the facility would discharge up to 260,000 gallons per day of concentrated reverse osmosis reject water, or industrial brine — a highly concentrated salt solution — "flowing through an existing drainage channel to the transitional waters and Gilbert Bay of the Great Salt Lake," said the hearing notice.

This is where the main concern of the conservation group lies, as they claim the water would be discharged at zero dilution, with no water-quality baseline ever established.

"There has never been an environmental issue that has galvanized opposition from people across the country and across the political spectrum like AI data centers have," Brian Moench, Utah Physicians for a Health Environment board chair, said in a statement. "Recognizing that, Gov. Cox vaguely suggested the state would take action to protect Utahns. But the pending approval of this permit indicates nothing has changed. Utah citizens should be outraged and demand that the state stop sacrificing our air, water, and quality of life to the demands of Big Tech billionaires."

More specifically, conservation groups say the area impacted by the proposed development contains thousands of acres of Great Salt Lake wetlands and is concerningly close to the open water of Gilbert Bay.

Heather Dove, board member and conservation chair of Great Salt Lake Audubon, said the project could accelerate habitat loss already faced by species around the lake.

"Shorebirds and other waterbirds, for which the Great Salt Lake is world-renowned, have steadily lost habitat around the lake in the last 20 years, due largely to inland ports and other developments. The wetlands and shorelines that are critically important for staging, foraging and nesting are becoming less and less available," Dove said in a statement. "Permitting this facility would run counter to the state's commitment to conserving water for the lake, to managing salinity in the south arm and to protecting our environment and wildlife."

A draft of the permit can be found here.

The Utah Division of Water Quality was taking public comments via email through Monday. The address to send public comments to is wqcomments@utah.gov.

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