Bonner Data Center
Project overview
A property owner in Bonner has submitted a preliminary application to Missoula County Planning, Development and Sustainability for a proposal to lease the planer building at the Old Bonner Mill to a company planning to establish a data center. The site, generally located at 9314 Bonner Mill Road in the Bonner Mill Industrial Park, is zoned Industrial Center, Heavy. A data center would be an allowed use on the property.
Missoula County has additional zoning regulations that apply to data centers and cryptocurrency operations throughout the county. These include:
All power for the operation must come from a new renewable energy source (meaning it has not been on the market yet)
The operation must recycle all electronic waste
Because it is located within 500 feet of a residential area, the proposal must go through a special exception review to ensure impacts to nearby properties are addressed, including traffic, noise, lighting, landscaping, and screening and buffering
Project process
The project would be subject to approval by the Missoula County Consolidated Land Use Board, not the county commissioners. While the land use board at times only has authority to make recommendations to the commissioners, the board does have final decision-making authority in some cases, including zoning variances, zoning special exceptions and administrative action appeals.
The land use board has authority to approve or deny a proposal to locate a data center within 500 feet of residential use, but the applicant must still secure a zoning compliance permit from the County ensuring they meet the requirements to recycle e-waste and supply the operation with new renewable energy, as required by the cryptocurrency zoning. The board may consider this project in early May at the earliest. The project would also need to get other County permits to operate, such as building and other trade permits. These are subject to administrative review and do not involve a public process.
What is a special exception?
A special exception is defined as an allowed use that meets the intent of the zoning in an area, but which, because of location, scale, required infrastructure or other potential impacts, requires a special degree of consideration and control to ensure it is consistent and compatible with the overall community character.
State law and local regulations require the Board of Adjustment to be the reviewing and approving authority for special exception requests. (The Consolidated Land Board serves as the Board of Adjustment for Missoula County.)
What’s next?
The project is still in its initial stages, and Missoula County has not received a formal application yet, which is typically the point when public engagement starts. Due to heightened public interest though, residents are invited to ask questions and submit comments using the tools below.
County staff attended, but did not organize, a community meeting Friends of 2 Rivers hosted on March 20 in Bonner. If a formal application is received, the public will have a chance to weigh in on this project at a public meeting of the land board. Follow this project page to be notified when a meeting is set.
Who's Listening
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Phone 406-258-4946 -
Climate Action Program Manager
Missoula County Planning, Development and Sustainability
Phone (406) 258-3442
Power bills are up as it is, we just wrapped up a winter with barely any snow, and the potential health impacts of infrasound emitted from data centers are legitimately terrifying. The most positive thing that could come out of this is a handful of local construction jobs to build the facility. Once that's done, the only people who benefit financially from an AI data center are the people who own the land and equipment, give or take a maintenance specialist or two flown in from out of state.
And for what? So some 22-year-old in Silicon Valley can vibe code a face-scanning app and sell that data to the feds? Bonner and the rest of Missoula County deserve better than that.
Data centers do not create long-term economic benefits for the communities in which they operate, they extract valuable resources, and they contribute to pollution, among other negative impacts. I would urge the Board to reject any data center proposal regardless of location, but especially so close to a residential area the choice is clear. Even with the cryptocurrency zoning regulations, the harms far outweigh the benefits.
I strongly oppose the approval of this data center project so close to a residential neighborhood, a school, and a vulnerable river environment. There are countless other businesses that could go into this warehouse space that would better serve our community without the added risk and environmental blight that AI data centers have a track record of causing.
This data center is in no way worth it. Don’t let it happen.
This is not acceptable use of our resources. Unless they are paying every citizen for use of our lands and water and electricity we do not need any data centers.. at all... No This is just bad planning for an even worse reason...
I am absolutely 100% against this proposal! I am against data centers anywhere in Montana, let alone in this county! I cannot imagine the damage this would cause. NO!
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This project will add nothing to our community. AI and the infrastructure it requires is inherently exploitative and extractive, and will only strain our resources. A lack of transparency and inflated (or entirely fabricated) promises are the industry standard.
Please do not allow this! This is only going to harm our community and raise prices. This is only the beginning of data centers being built in Montana, we have to resist NOW! Our town and community depend on this not happening. Please please please do not allow this to be built
We are totally against this , these data centers suck up all our water 💦 use power that we pay for and RUIN OUR PLANET YOU DESTROY EVERYTHING YOU BUILD AT . It’s all about money and power and screw the places and land that you build these data centers at .NO NO NO STAY OUTA OF MONTANA WE DONT WANT UOU HERE .
Please please please reconsider this data center. There is a reason communities across America are trying to fight them—they use up and poison our water (see the communities in Oregon and Memphis), they create constant grating noise and will disturb those living in the area, the wildlife, and any concert goers. This data center will not bring in more jobs. It won’t bring any value to Missoula or Bonner, and from what I can tell there are no guarantees this company will do anything to help prevent these issues from coming up. In conclusion, this is an incredibly bad idea that needs to be reconsidered.
I strongly oppose the placement of this AI data center. Drawing large amounts of water from a well in an area that is already ecologically stressed is irresponsible and short-sighted. Groundwater is not an unlimited resource, and further depletion risks long-term damage to the local environment and surrounding community.
It is even more troubling that this project is being built on land that has already suffered significant ecological harm.
The claim that this project is sustainable is hard to take seriously when even its own proponents admit what they are planning has never been done before. That is not reassurance. It is a warning sign. Sustainability is not a label to apply to an untested concept. Innovation at the cost of the community is a one sided bargain. These concepts should be demonstrated through evidence, transparency, and proven outcomes, and the communities like those in Washington, should have a voice. Relying on the eloquent marketing of a business looking to cash in on AI, is insufficient.
Innovation has its place, but not when it involves extracting groundwater from an already stressed ecosystem and placing the burden of uncertainty on a local community, especially one that includes a nearby school. If this approach fails or falls short of its promises in any way, which is almost guaranteed, the environmental and social consequences will be immediate, irreparable, and local.
Placing such a resource-intensive industrial facility within feet of a school raises serious concerns about noise, air quality, safety, and the overall well-being of students. Schools should be protected spaces, not neighbors to infrastructure that may pose significant environmental and health risks.
This project reflects a failure to prioritize community health, environmental stewardship, and responsible planning. We remember when tax payers shelled out the money to remove the Bonner Dam, and here we are creating a new catastrophe. This project should be reconsidered, and if allowed prepare to have the entirety of the local populace up in arms about it. The answer from the community is an unequivocal no.
No! This would affect the people so largely that you should listen to the people. We don’t want AI, we don’t need AI. Sure it can be cool but clean drinking water and lower living prices are cooler. 100% no on this. Keep montana beautiful. I hope this right choice is made here. Someone has to still care about the environment right?
While the proposal is in its early stages, I hope the County and the Consolidated Land Use Board will take a proactive approach to evaluating potential impacts.
Data centers have significant demands on energy, water, and infrastructure systems and would like clarity from the developer on energy sourcing (what formal agreements will be required to secure renewable energy for this project?) and potential rate impacts, infrastructure needs, back up power systems (diesel generators or gas?), and water use (how much will be required for heating and cooling, potential impacts for water availability in drought conditions). Finally, what is the value they are bringing to the community wrt actual jobs and tax revenue?
Thank you for your consideration.
We can't seriously be considering this?! There we be NO community benefit. They will have to upgrade the water and power infrastructure on the publics dime! Then they use BILLIONS of gallons of water annually to cool it and it is forever gone and the vapor that is left is contaminated! They will increase the community and surrounding communities power bills FOREVER! And the likelihood of if creating more than 1-2 permanent jobs is nil. Keep this out of our MONTANA. JUST SAY NO TO AI SUPER DATA CENTERS!
These data centers have come in to communities with lies. They have ruined the local residents livelihoods and ruined the environment. There have been videos circulating how peoples water is no longer safe to use and they now have to pay more for hauling their own water from outside their PUCs. They were told that there was going to be jobs. Those jobs went to people that were brought in from out of town and state. They were lied to about the usage of water and the need increases all the time. When the water table is sucked dry the data center has priority. They will hide the true cost behind legalese until it's too late. The stories from The Dalles Oregon talks about how farmers cant even use the water for crops and the lower the water table gets the less the public's allowed because the data center gets priority. It heats up the water and kills the water shed environment for the fish and wildlife. They get all kinds of 'tax breaks' and that cost is put on the local residents. The housing we need for those we have now will be taken by outsiders causing us to fund new housing. When we can no longer afford to stay in homes or support our farms we will be forced in to 15 minute cities. Montana needs to make these people go someplace else. We have built our communities to support our way of life and that is being robbed from us by these technologies sold to us with lies. They may find 1 or 2 people in our area to hire as janitors but they wont be hiring locally for the majority of jobs and that brings in those who have no respect for our way of life. Dont just read current news about these centers. Read archived articles about what they did and how it ruins the lives of the locals.
The environmental negative impacts outweigh the positives. Missoula and Montana’s economies thrive on our natural resources. They will be at risk if this AI data center is built. Please refer to other examples of AI data centers being built in communities. They will cause more harm than good.
There are zero benefits to this project that outweigh the danger and damage to the environment, energy costs for citizens, noise disruption in the valley, and the fact that there is no way to responsibly dispose of e-waste. This is a horrible, horrible project and should not be approved.
In The Dalles Oregon AI centers were sold as environmental and would create jobs. THEY LIED. All over the country AI centers have been sold like this to the local community. They LIED. It ruined the water shes it ruined the community and the jobs were filled by people from out of town and state. THEY LIE. They manipulate the emotion of the local community and then you suffer. Any place these centers have been built the community people water electricity and farms have been ruined. It heats up the water and kills the fish and when the water levels drop as they do we know the data center will be prioritized leaving the residents to find ways to get potable water. Some areas have reported brown tap water and unsafe to even bathe in. Montana deserves to stay pristine. We are the best water shed for the country outside of Michigan. We can not allow these centers to ruin our lives. The company becomes so powerful you cant fight them and they all start with this... we are safe for the environment and just a tiny little thing. As their water usage increases as demand is on the plant the people are left out in the cold. The slow creep to 15 minute cities. Fight this. Push back. Send them packing. They will ruin the community read the archives of the story of The Dalles Oregon data centers. Not the current cover up news but the Archives.
Get out of here now! Do you want water, wildlife, and peace? Or do you want no water, accelerated death drive of wildlife and planet, and loud psychosis inducing noise? AI is an evil that was built off of theft and is being weaponized against those who unwittingly created and have no need for it. Vampire technology that sucks the life from the real world in order to create an artificial one. No no no no no no no!!!!