On January 12, 2026, Stokes County Commissioners voted 3-2 to approve "Project Delta"—a massive 1,845-acre data center complex on sacred Saura burial grounds near Walnut Cove, NC.

❌ 3,200+ petition signatures IGNORED
❌ Planning Board recommended DENY—commissioners voted YES anyway
❌ Violates the 2035 Land Use Plan (designated for "conservation," not industrial)
❌ No archaeological survey completed despite known Saura burial grounds
❌ Clean Water for NC issued 8 expert warnings—all dismissed
❌ Walnut Cove residents packed meeting rooms, gave tearful testimony—they were called "outside noise" by Commissioner Keith Wood

THE DEVELOPER'S PROMISES DON'T MATCH REALITY:

• WATER: Promised 50-100K gallons/day. Microsoft's Arizona "closed-loop" data center used 1.83 BILLION gallons/year—50-100x more than claimed.
• NOISE: Promised "70 decibels—dinner conversation quiet." Virginia data center neighbors: "We couldn't sleep. We needed noise-cancelling headphones in our own homes."
• JOBS: Promised 250-500 at $100K average. Meta's Virginia data centers: 25 jobs. Ohio: 25 jobs. Reality is 90% fewer jobs than promised.
• TAX REVENUE: Promised $40M annually. Developer already admitted "incentives may be requested later." Virginia gave $1 BILLION in tax breaks to data centers in 2023 alone.

VIRGINIA'S WARNING: Virginia approved their first data center in the 1990s with the same promises: jobs, quiet, economic boom.

Today: 329 data centers. Their electric bills are projected to rise 50% by 2039. Their farmland is disappearing. And residents are fighting to preserve what's left.

Stokes County is at that same crossroads TODAY. 

Without a moratorium, nothing prevents the next application. Pine Hall? Germanton? YOUR community?

A moratorium is NOT shutting down Project Delta (it's approved). It's a PAUSE on future approvals while we:
✓ Measure actual impacts (not promises—REALITY)
✓ Update the 2035 Plan with community input
✓ Protect sacred sites BEFORE bulldozers arrive
✓ Create enforceable regulations with teeth

THREE COMMISSIONERS IGNORED US ONCE.

5,000 signatures will force them to listen.

One data center was too many. We will not become the next Loudoun County, Virginia.

Sign. Share. Make your voice heard.