PW Digital Gateway opponents make last-ditch effort to delay vote, push water study

In three days, elected county leaders will make the most significant land use decision in county history as it weighs the Prince William Digital Gateway.

Opponents of the massive data center project, the county’s most significant land-use case in history, gathered today to urge the Board of County Supervisors to delay its decision expected in the early hours of Wednesday morning, November 2.

Clear-cutting so much land in a rural area will lead to more stormwater and pollutants flowing into the Occoquan Reservoir, the drinking water source for 1.5 million people in Fairfax and Prince William counties, they said.

They’re urging a comprehensive study of the sediments and salt in the water and looking at how the proposed server farms would add to that pollution. Opponents say they support data center construction inside an area called the data center overlay district the Board of County Supervisors established in 2021. The proposed project falls outside of the overlay.

Brentsville District Supervisor Jeanine Lawson led the press conference at Lake Ridge Marina on the reservoir banks. She said that, hopefully, a few of the five Democrats on the Board of County change their minds before the vote.

“I can’t imagine in my most expansive dreams that they can diver such a disastrous plan that so many organizations have opposed. They’re not focusing on the right priorities,” Lawson told Potomac Local News. “The Board members who think this is a great [plan. Maybe they need to pay closer attention to what’s happening in their districts.”

With elections for all eight Board of County Supervisors coming next year, Lawson suggested the Digital Gateway be an election issue in 2023. “Let’s run on it next year when more poeple are paying attention,”  said Lawson.

On behalf of data center developers, the Prince William County Government seeks to amend the county’s comprehensive plan and rezone 2,100 acres next to Manassas National Battlefield to build data centers — server farms that power the internet.

Prince William Conservation Alliance, the National Parks Conservation Association, Coalition for Smarter Growth, with 12 other non-profits have rallied against the project.

“Repeated requests by Supervisor Lawson and County residents to delay the vote until a water study can be conducted have been ignored. Have a slice of cake, they say,” said Prince Wiliam County Coles District Supervisor Yesli Vega. “While Supervisor Lawson and I are Republicans, it’s safe to say that we have been more environmentally sensitive and cognizant to the impacts of land use decisions on our local environment and the health and safety of our residents than our counterparts.”

The area on which the Prince William Digital Gateway would sit is about the size of 150 Walmart Supercenter stores and 15 times the size of Potomac Mills mall. The project would make Prince William County the world’s leader in data center space, eclipsing neighboring Loudoun County, which has held the title of Internet Capital since the 1990s.

Since the reservoir serves Prince William and Fairfax counties, officials across the Occoquan River are also weighing in. Fairfax Board of Supervisors Chairman At-large called calls from his colleague Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity to delay the project and conduct the water study “politically motivated.”

“Local government used to be about common sense, not but politics has worked its way into local government,” Herrity told Potomac Local News. This a common sense decision. This reservoir supplies a drinking supply for 1.5 million residents. Take the time to do the study.”

The Prince William Board of County Supervisors meets at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 1, to hear the case. Public testimony is expected last well into the overnight hours.

The county Planning Commission heard the case last month and voted to approve in a 4:3:1 vote, with one member abstaining. The vote came after 4:30 a.m., following a marathon public comment session.