Carbon County, Utah, is being asked to host two massive data center projects at once, and residents say they are not being heard.

Nuclear startup Valar Atomics plans "Project Beehive," a complex of 456 small modular reactors on public land in the county. According to National Public Radio (NPR), the site would store radioactive waste, and it would power industrial operations including data centers. Small modular reactors have not yet been used commercially anywhere in the United States. Even so, the Utah Trust Lands Administration has agreed to lease Valar a square mile of state land for up to 100 years.

A second project, Altigen Energy's "Jurassic Spark," would cover about 1,200 acres east of Wellington. It would start with a 250-megawatt natural gas plant that could someday reach 3 gigawatts, according to County Commissioner Larry Jensen. The entire state of Utah uses roughly 4 gigawatts.

Residents have serious concerns. Water in this dry region is already fully claimed. Wellington sits in a valley closed in by mountains and cliffs, and a Utah State University physics professor warns that a valley like this traps the heat power plants give off. Gas plants also pollute nearby air. Longtime resident Cheryl Lupo, who is running for county commission, says she will never support nuclear power after losing family members she believes were harmed by fallout from 1950s weapons testing in Nevada.

Carbon County spent generations mining coal and paid for it with black lung, fires and explosions. Now all three county commissioners back these projects, even as residents push back. Some residents have also questioned the county's use of non-disclosure agreements with companies, though it is unclear whether any cover these projects.

The Carbon County Commission and the Utah Trust Lands Administration should halt both projects and put the community's health, water and future first.

Sign the petition to stop these data centers before deals lasting up to a century are locked in.