Bonner Data Center

I vehemently urge Missoula County Planning to reject this proposal. This data center offers no benefits to the community and has the potential to cause irreparable financial and environmental harm.
1) No employment: Data centers employ very few people. We need an industry in Bonner that can offer employment opportunities for the community.
2) Noise: Data centers generate low frequency noise. Studies have concluded low grade noise leads to detrimental health consequences.
3) Increased utility prices for the rest of us. Their promise to “buy renewable energy” is an accounting term and not a direct supply. Companies meet renewable requirements through energy credits or contracts, not by directly powering their facility with new local clean energy.
4) Water use unsustainable - Water contamination and use in an area with a limited water table. They consume and pollute too much water.

The reason it goes in there is so they can pull thousands of gallons of water from the Blackfoot, to cool the equipment in use…. ABSOLUTELY NOT! Leave our rivers alone and go somewhere else.

Please understand that the losses to our environment and in particular the river ecosystem that will be forever adversely altered, can’t be undone. What AI has to offer us is minuscule when compared to what will be lost in our Montana way of life, by the money grab of a few. Say NO to this data center

Data centers all over thr us, more than 50% failed to even get built. Its a gut check and shotgun spread. They're trying to see what sticks where. Apathy is not an option in this scenario. We need clean water more than we need AI slop. The building owner needs to consider other venues, perhaps a farmers market or flea market for time being.

I absolutely do not support an AI facility at the confluence of the Clark Fork and Blackfoot Rivers. We have no need to endanger another waterway for absolutely nothing but greed. Our Montana constitution mandates protection of our water. To give vague information regarding long term impacts to our water is a joke. No good will come of this facility. Protect our small community. Do the right thing Missoula, keep AI facilities out of Missoula and the rest of our small towns.

Upon attending the most recent Bonner city council meeting and hearing from some of the folks with the land use board and the Dept of health (?), it is abundantly clear how unequipped Montana and Missoula county are to handle proposals for AI data centers without federal and state regulations.

There are too many unknowns due to lack of research on AI centers and a dearth of information from Krambu themselves, for our land use board to feel comfortable with approving this project. It is unnerving to hear that a project may still be approved as long as it falls within the confines of zoning laws when our county government and officials know how deeply unpopular this development would be. It is doubly unnerving for the remainder of our state, that a progressive county with strict zoning laws may still allow a data center to be built. I fear that this would lead to a proliferation of AI centers along with those planned or proposed in Butte and Broadview.

It is also extremely disappointing to know that the public will essentially be unable to hold the commissioners, the land board, or our politicians accountable for something that is deeply unpopular with the vast majority of people if they were to approve the data center.

I am absolutely against this project for all the aforementioned reasons and would further suggest Missoula Co. implement conservation standards that would prevent similar project proposals in the future. We should not have to keep fighting the same battles to protect our natural resources!

I have a home directly across the street from the Mill.

I am horrified that this project will have a dramatically negative impact on our water, power, mental health and way-of-life. Not to mention the drastic effects it will have on the schoolchildren at Bonner Elementary.

Please consider this lovely community and decline this project!!

The consequences of this project will lead to more inflation of energy costs, pollute our rivers and environment, threaten our aquifer, etc, and offer no benefit to the local economy. It is a just plain ugly project for our beautiful communities, Bonner and downstream. The County must say no.

This project is of no benefit to the general public, is a huge draw on state water resources, and will result in ecological catastrophe if implemented. The County should refuse this project in its entirety.

I strongly urge the Missoula County Consolidated Land Use Board to deny this proposal. This project is not in the communities best interests. The future of Missoula County’s natural resources are uncertain and are stressed. They are only going to get worse. A project such as this would only stress our natural resources further. We live in a time where we need to conserve our resources, not allow them to be experimented with.

The fact that the reps for the company thought it was fine to be half-hearten and vague about their resource consumption is enough to decline their proposal. From the Berkeley Pit to the Smurfit-Stone Mill, these extraction companies never show the communities upfront what messes will be left for us to clean up. Let’s not wait and find out. It is hard to claim that this project is sustainable. Sadly most e-waste is not recyclable. It would be terrible to see our community contribute to more carbon emissions by enabling companies to extract the minerals to make the batteries, and then throw it back into the soil. If the company were to go bankrupt, will the infrastructure be sitting around? Or will it be shipped somewhere else on the planet to rot and pollute the soil.

Almost every concern a person could have for this data center are high risk concerns. They are not mild or moderate concerns, they are great big huge concerns. What’s worse, is that each concern a person could have about a data center is too new to humanity to be fully understood. If in a decade we find that there are harms to human health, will Krambu still be around to pay their medical bills? If their water-cooling system, that has never been deployed at the proposed scale, doesn’t have the results they promised, do we get to revoke their permit? I do not want this community to become a test dummy for this corporation or this industry. It is unfair to place the burden of such magnitude of uncertainty on the community.

Additionally, the moral and societal implications of supporting an industry that may lower cognitive abilities, memory, and exploit and pirate off of others skills and creativity are so vast, they could not possibly be accounted for or responsibly planned for.

The priorities of this community are for community health, student health, environmental stewardship, local business, and to work to lower housing costs, and responsible planning. Please do not let this cooperation take advantage of our community. We are demanding that this project be not approved.

Clean water is the lifeblood of Montana. The Krambu AI data center raises many issues, and water is a critical one. Without protection, the AI data center could put the Blackfoot River in a tightening vice, choking it between consumption and contamination.

Consumption:

When it comes to water consumption, timing is everything.

Krambu claims that using a closed-loop system will minimize its water consumption. That is credible --- but we need full transparency around these claims. For example, Sabey Data Centers, has said its proposed Butte data center will use about 16 million gallons of water annually, equating that to about the impact of a 100 room hotel. Sabey Data Centers, like Krambu, is claiming that its use of a closed-loop system will cut its water consumption. What is important to understand is that nearly all 16 million gallons will be used in July and August, when the temperatures are hottest and when the rivers and landscape need that water the most (see slides 17 and 18 of this presentation: https://www.buttedatacenterinfo.com/_files/ugd/261bfd_85c42a797eba456d9436b509ddefdb14.pdf).

Again, timing is everything.

A 100-room hotel typically uses between 300,000 and 600,000 gallons of water per month, assuming a standard occupancy rate of approximately 60–70%. Taking the average of 450,000 and then dividing 16,000,000 by that average equals about 36. Divide that by 2 for two months (July and August) and you arrive at 18. So, the Sabey Data Center water consumption is actually like adding eighteen 100 room hotels for the two months that matter most when it comes to water consumption. I would like to know if Krambu's projections are similar. In Krambu's case, water will be drawn from onsite wells, and we know that groundwater and surface water are connected (https://morrisoninstitute.asu.edu/content/study-confirms-groundwater-pumping-drying-arizona-rivers). Groundwater and surface water are connected, meaning groundwater level changes significantly impact above-ground water in rivers and streams.

Contamination:

Forever chemicals are forever.

Regarding contamination, Krambu claims its closed-loop system uses a "food safe" propylene glycol fluid. That may be true, but the public needs verification. It needs independent testing of Krambu’s cooling fluids, and Krambu should pay for that. Until Krambu provides full disclosure of its cooling fluid recipe and allows independent testing, we should be very hesitant to believe it is "food safe." Material Safety Data Sheets for propylene glycol-based cooling fluids for data center cooling can be found online. One popular brand, DOWFROST™ LC 25 Heat Transfer Fluid, which markets its fluid as a, “prediluted 25% propylene glycol solution in water with a purpose-built corrosion inhibitor package designed to help protect system metals while maintaining reliable heat transfer performance,” has a Material Safety Data Sheets disclosing it poses an inhalation risk. Here's a sample: "Hazards: Suspected of damaging fertility or the unborn child." Given the proximity to residential housing and an elementary school, and of course, the Blackfoot River, verification that Krambu’s cooling fluids are non-toxic is necessary.

The use of "dielectric fluids" for cooling---fluids that are thermally conductive but not electrically conductive—is booming in AI data centers. These fluids are fluorocarbon-based, meaning they are "forever chemicals." AI chips run really, really hot. Cooling these chips is a new frontier. They generally demand direct, liquid cooling. This very recent data center industry article highlights the top 10 cooling companies' current solutions: https://datacentremagazine.com/top10/top-10-liquid-cooling-companies. They all depend on strange liquids. These cooling fluid markets are expanding into the billions of dollars. The city of Kalispell currently needs an $18 million investment in new wells and water transmission to shield the public from PFAS contamination (https://deq.mt.gov/files/Water/WQInfo/Documents/SRF/DWSRF/Kalispell%20PFAS_FONSI-EA_Public%20Notice.pdf). The source of Kalispell’s drinking water contamination is currently unknown. Bonner needs verification that its residents' drinking water supplies will not be threatened by dangerous forever chemicals. Not now. Not in the future. These are chemicals that are hazardous to human health at a parts per trillion scale. That’s a scale of one drop of liquid in twenty Olympic swimming pools.

Unanswered Questions:

The Bonner community must ask itself if this the best long-term use of the Bonner mill site, given the: low employment benefits, potential resource demands, uncertainty about impacts to affordable and reliable electricity, uncertainty about future expansion and potential for larger energy and water use if expanded, unclear data tenants (Krambu says they’d like “biomedical AI clients” but that they are not closing the door on any clientele).

Bonner needs transparency and certainty. Krambu has not provided either.

Clean water is Montana's lifeblood. There are many issues with the Krambu proposal, water is a critical one. The AI data center could place the Blackfoot River in a tightening vice, choking it between consumption and contamination.

Consumption:

When it comes to water consumption, timing is everything.

Krambu claims that using a closed-loop system will minimize its water consumption. That is credible --- but we need full transparency around these claims. For example, Sabey Data Centers, has said its proposed Butte data center will use about 16 million gallons of water annually, equating that to about the impact of a 100 room hotel. Sabey Data Centers, like Krambu, is claiming that its use of a closed-loop system will cut its water consumption. What is important to understand is that nearly all 16 million gallons will be used in July and August, when the temperatures are hottest and when the rivers and landscape need that water the most (see slides 17 and 18 of this presentation: https://www.buttedatacenterinfo.com/_files/ugd/261bfd_85c42a797eba456d9436b509ddefdb14.pdf).

Again, timing is everything.

A 100-room hotel typically uses between 300,000 and 600,000 gallons of water per month, assuming a standard occupancy rate of approximately 60–70%. Taking the average of 450,000 and then dividing 16,000,000 by that average equals about 36. Divide that by 2 for two months (July and August) and you arrive at 18. So, the Sabey Data Center water consumption is actually like adding eighteen 100 room hotels for the two months that matter most when it comes to water consumption. Are Krambu's needs similar? In Krambu's case, water will be drawn from onsite wells, and we know that groundwater and surface water are connected (https://morrisoninstitute.asu.edu/content/study-confirms-groundwater-pumping-drying-arizona-rivers). When groundwater level changes, it significantly impacts above-ground water in rivers and streams.

Contamination:

Forever chemicals are forever.

Regarding contamination, Krambu claims its closed-loop system uses a "food safe" propylene glycol fluid. That may be true, but the public needs verification. It needs independent testing of Krambu’s cooling fluids, and Krambu should pay for that. Until Krambu provides full disclosure of its cooling fluid recipe and allows independent testing, we should be very hesitant to believe it is "food safe." Material Safety Data Sheets for propylene glycol-based cooling fluids for data center cooling can be found online. One popular brand, DOWFROST™ LC 25 Heat Transfer Fluid, which markets its fluid as a, “prediluted 25% propylene glycol solution in water with a purpose-built corrosion inhibitor package designed to help protect system metals while maintaining reliable heat transfer performance,” has a Material Safety Data Sheets disclosing it poses an inhalation risk. Here's a sample: "Hazards: Suspected of damaging fertility or the unborn child." Given the proximity to residential housing and an elementary school, and of course, the Blackfoot River, verification that Krambu’s cooling fluids are non-toxic is necessary.

The use of "dielectric fluids" for cooling---fluids that are thermally conductive but not electrically conductive—is booming in AI data centers. These fluids are fluorocarbon-based, meaning they are "forever chemicals." AI chips run really, really hot. Cooling these chips is a new frontier. They generally demand direct, liquid cooling. This very recent data center industry article highlights the top 10 cooling companies' current solutions: https://datacentremagazine.com/top10/top-10-liquid-cooling-companies. They all depend on strange liquids. These cooling fluid markets are expanding into the billions of dollars. No community wants to be the guinea pig for these new chemicals.

The city of Kalispell currently needs an $18 million investment in new wells and water transmission to shield the public from PFAS contamination (https://deq.mt.gov/files/Water/WQInfo/Documents/SRF/DWSRF/Kalispell%20PFAS_FONSI-EA_Public%20Notice.pdf). The source of Kalispell’s drinking water contamination is currently unknown. Bonner needs verification that its residents' drinking water supplies will not be threatened by dangerous forever chemicals. Not now. Not in the future. These are chemicals that are hazardous to human health at a parts per trillion scale. That’s a scale of one drop of liquid in twenty Olympic swimming pools.

Unanswered Questions:

The Bonner community must ask itself if this the best long-term use of the Bonner mill site, given the: low employment benefits, potential resource demands, uncertainty about impacts to affordable and reliable electricity, uncertainty about future expansion and potential for larger energy and water use if expanded, and the unclear data tenants (Krambu says they’d like “biomedical AI clients” but that they are not closing the door on any clientele).

Bonner needs transparency and certainty. Krambu has not provided either.

I strongly oppose this proposal which will only benefit Krambu, while threatening our aquifer, the Blackfoot River, our statewide electric costs, and the local communities of Bonner and East Missoula. Krambu's explanation of how they plan to mitigate the heat and waste water generated from this data center's operation are utterly inadequate. Stand Strong, Missoula!

Absolutely against the data center... Taking resources from our community and our wildlife is unacceptable. I hope missoula county understands the tax payers do not want this.

AI data centers strain the power grid and hike up local electricity costs. This is the opposite of the Montana ethos of supporting local business and community. Krambu inc is here to take, not to give. As a born and raised Montanan, and local Missoula business owner, I’m deeply opposed to the establishment of any AI data center in Montana.

I am a Bonner resident, a parent of Bonner School students, and an employee of a Bonner organization. I do not support an AI data center in this community. AI, in its current state, is doing horrific damage to the environment, the future of creative occupations, and the souls of humanity. We are learning to outsource critical thinking, creativity, writing, and art to a plagiarism machine that produces far-worse results than human-made products and does so at the cost of our earthly resources. What a terrible thing to bring to our beautiful community. Please consider whether or not greed and short-sighted financial gains are worth sacrificing our souls for. In my opinion, we can do much, much better. Thank you for your time.

I do not support this data center because it will pollute our eco system and drain our grid. A data center this close to watershed is going to heat it up and cause nasty algae blooms, especially when its low. This won't just affect Bonner but everything down stream. Whatever they run that water through will end up back in our aquafier and river no matter what filters they use it will not be cost efficient to remove all what will be introduced into the water. Definitely harmful to our community. I absolutely do not support this data center.

A better idea than a data center is an indoor flea market or event hosting. That way everyone wins. A data center this close to watershed is going to heat it up and cause nasty algae blooms, especially when its low. This won't just affect bonner but everything down stream. Whatever they run that water through will end up back in our aquafier and river no matter what filters they use it will not be cost efficient to remove all what will be introduced into the water. I think the owner should reach out to the community for alternative ideas than allowing this to occur.

What a pathetic idea for our town. Clear the dollar signs out of your eyes and wake up! AI data companies should never be trusted in any capacity. They are a drain on our resources, pollute our environment, and will negatively impact the power grid. They are also completely dishonest and fail to present actual facts about the resources they consume. Also how will a data center help reduce the cost of living in Missoula? Adding a data center will continue to drive up the price of homes and cost of living in Missoula. This company will bring in new employees from out of the area that will be paid very well and will create a bigger financial imbalance in town. Any member of Missoula government that votes for a data center should be recalled immediately.