Bonner Data Center
Project overview
Missoula County has received an application for a proposed data center facility to be located at the Bonner Mill site at 9314 Bonner Mill Road. The project is being reviewed through a Special Exception process because it is located near residential properties.
The proposal involves reusing a portion of the former mill building — commonly referred to as the planer building — for data center operations. This means most of the development would occur inside the existing structure, with no major expansion of the building footprint. Interior improvements would include constructing specialized rooms to house computer servers and supporting equipment.
The primary new exterior components of the project would be cooling systems to regulate equipment temperature. These cooling units, sometimes referred to as cooling towers, would be installed next to the existing building. According to the application, these systems would operate continuously to support the data center.
Data centers are facilities that store and process digital information and typically operate 24 hours a day with minimal on-site staffing. The applicant has indicated that after construction, traffic to and from the site would be limited to periodic maintenance and service visits.
Project process
The site is zoned Industrial Center, Heavy. A data center would be an allowed use on the property. However, Missoula County has additional zoning regulations that apply to data centers and cryptocurrency operations throughout the county. These regulations 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
Because the project is located near residentially zoned and developed properties, the County’s review is focused on how the data center and associated equipment may affect nearby residents. Key itemss under review include potential noise, visual impacts, lighting, and other operational characteristics of the cooling systems and equipment.
County staff are currently reviewing the application for completeness and have requested additional information from the applicant to better understand these potential impacts and how they may be mitigated. Once the application is deemed complete, it will proceed through a public review process, including opportunities for public comment.
The project will be subject to review 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 well as other zoning regulations, as required by the cryptocurrency/data center zoning, as well as all other zoning regulations for the property.
What’s next?
The consolidated land use board hearing is currently scheduled for Wednesday, June 3, at 6 p.m. The meeting will take place in person in the Sophie Moiese Room of the Missoula County Courthouse, 200 W. Broadway, and virtually via Microsoft Teams. The agenda and information on how to join the meeting virtually will be available online prior to the meeting.
The meeting date is subject to change if a complete application is not submitted in time for the June 3 meeting.
Community members are encouraged to stay informed and participate in the review process. Additional project materials and updates will be posted as they become available.
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
I'm worried about noise pollution. I've read that other data centers generate noise that impacts a 2 mile radius.
I am quite concerned about any data center coming into Montana due to their high use of water. The jobs promised are temporary and what will happen when they are no longer needed because technology has advanced to the point of no longer requiring huge quantities of space? We'll be left with rusting out warehouses and used up resources. I fear that our utilities will sky rocket as well. Please do not let this project proceed.
A.I. has not shown enough accuracy and consistent content to warrant building data centers to this degree. The river in out area is still recovering from mining damage and this will just make the pollution worse. Also, using river water to cool facilities means warm water will be put back in, even if they try to cool it down. This will be a huge blow to our aquatic life, which alsonis already at risk. Lastly, how much river access will be shut off in the name of security? I'd rather have recreational access than an A.I. center that does a half-a$$ed job. I doubt it will bring enough jobs or tax revenue to juatify the damage it will cause.
One of the biggest draws to Missoula is the access to nature and wildlife. I think it is risky and stupid to build a AI data center, there is no real way to know if they will maintain the limitations proposed. We have seen from other towns how AI data centers can negatively affect the surrounding environment and water. Montana is a beautiful place and is rich with landscapes, sunrises, and wildlife. Why taint that with a capitalistic venture that will ruin the environment, ruin the allure (and tourism) of Montana, and potentially ruin the city’s electricity, employment, etc.?
The priorities for this community are preserving the beautiful nature we are surrounded with, not with corporate earnings and greed brought about by AI.
The town hall at the church was biased, slimy, and censored. How dare you tell us to sit quietly and listen to a moderator twist our words while business men dodge our concerns with vague responses. We were given no information regarding health impacts of the community as well as false answers regarding resource consumption. Hold another town hall and allow us to speak openly against this disrespectful company and their harmful proposal. We do not support them. We do not support any data centers. How stupid can you be to think this will do anything but harm us in every possible way.
If the data center is equivalent to the power of 8,000 homes just to start that is way too much for Bonner and Missoula to handle. This data center will drive up electricity prices and continue to dry out our surrounding areas so a company can make money with a few AI tools or videos. Water is a basic necessity that we need more than some more AI tools or videos on the internet. No data center anywhere in Montana. We rely too much on our beauty for tourism and the enjoyment of Montanans.
In every community data centers have been installed in, there have been significant and detrimental impacts to the environment, exorbitant water consumption and overall costly impacts to both human and environmental health. I do not want to see one come to our community, and harm my neighbors, friends and family. I am strictly opposed to allowing this data center to exist in our community. It is horrible for all of us, our children, and the flora and fauna we share our home with. Please do not let this data center pollute our community. They can go elsewhere with their smog and water guzzling technology. They are not welcome here.
I'm quite concerned about the environmental impacts of this project, as well as the negative effects on quality of life on those living nearby. There's been so much work to clean up the rivers nearby in the past, and this is endangering their health again. There are many quantifiable health impacts of data centers, especially to air and water quality. With people living across the street from the proposed site, this project seems quite harmful.
My biggest question is, because it is well water out here- is this going to be liquid cooling? If so how will this impact our water table and wells. If this is to draw high kilowatt, what is being done to mitigate or lower our power bills, or are we expected to foot the cost spikes while the data center gets tax breaks? It isnt even goings to bring more than a small handful of jobs to a location that lost 100+ jib positions. How will this affect school children's development, mentally and physically? How many BTUs of heat will it be exhausting and dumping into the aquafier and air?
No. No. No. And NO. We went through this once before and it was a NIGHTMARE. Let's not do it again!