Imperial County could soon host what may become California’s largest data center: a facility of nearly 1 million square feet planned for unincorporated land just outside the city of Imperial, across the street from family homes and near schools. The Imperial County Board of Supervisors must require a full state environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) before this project, or any future data center, moves forward.

In April, supervisors approved merging several parcels owned by the developer, the only vote the project needed to proceed. Then in August, Imperial County Superior Court Judge L. Brooks Anderholt ruled that county officials had illegally let it advance without the environmental review state law requires. The project is stalled for now, but a temporary pause is not a permanent safeguard. An earlier moratorium was already overturned in court.

Residents have real questions that deserve answers. Where will the power come from when the local grid already strains on scorching summer days? How much water will it use? What will a massive industrial facility mean for nearby neighborhoods in a county where research has found close to a quarter of elementary schoolchildren have an asthma diagnosis?

These concerns have united residents across party lines, from retirees and college students to people speaking at public meetings for the first time in their lives. Supervisor Jesus Eduardo Escobar now says his vote for the project was a mistake. The neighboring city of Calexico has already banned data centers outright.

An environmental review is not a radical demand. It is what California law calls for, and it gives families the facts before decisions are made, not after. Sign the petition to tell the Imperial County Board of Supervisors that no data center moves forward without a full environmental review.