Concerned citizens are requesting that the West Richland City Council reverse its decision to allow data centers in urban transition and light industrial zones. Data center development is incompatible with the health, prosperity, and values of West Richland residents for the following reasons:

• Air and noise pollution: Data centers' backup diesel generators can emit air pollutants associated with lung disease and premature death in nearby populations. Data centers can also produce constant, low frequency noise that may impact the health of local residents as well.
• Energy consumption: Data centers can require huge amounts of energy around the clock, with no state requirements in place to turn off power during times of peak demand. This threatens local residents with rising power bills and blackouts during extreme summer or winter weather.
• Water usage: Data center cooling systems can drain clean water from city water resources, such as groundwater wells, and discharge contaminated wastewater that compromises those resources. Cooling systems that use river water instead can evaporate it into the air and thereby remove it from local communities in arid ecosystems.

Please protect the future of our community by refusing to allow data centers in West Richland.