Bonner Data Center

I will voice along with many others that a data center will bring NO benefit to our community. The impact on our surrounding waterways alone would be castrophic for people and wildlife. It has been documented that people will loose access to water, wildlife ecyostems will collapse, and here in Montana it seems like a very bad idea to use our fire suppression supply. With climate change in full swing, fire season is no joke in Montana. Every Missoulian and Montanan knows that - fires are already burning in May - and we have know for years how precious our water is. No data center is worth jeopardizing that. AI does not have to be our future. It is more harmful than good and most of humanity agrees. This data center will hurt Montanans while benefiting extreme corporate greed that only cares about short term gains. Saying no will protect current and future Montanans. For the love of our treasure state, the environment, and humanity, have some good sense and do not support this data center. Again, future generations, like my 9 month old son is counting on us to do the right thing. Please NO data center!

Dear Members of the Missoula County Consolidated Land Use Board, I am writing as a local resident and as a former professional city planner to formally request that the board DENY the Special Exception permit for the proposed Krambu AI data center at the former Bonner Mill site. Given my professional background in land-use planning, I understand the high legal threshold an applicant must meet to earn a Special Exception. An applicant must definitively prove complete operational compatibility with nearby residential properties and natural resources. This application fundamentally fails to meet that planning standard, posing direct and unmitigated risks to our local infrastructure, utility rate stability, and a fragile, newly restored ecosystem.I urge the board to deny this permit based on the following critical impacts: 1. Electrical Grid Strain and Cost Shifts to RatepayersWhile the developer claims that purchasing power from the grid will not inflate local consumer rates, the sheer scale of the project suggests otherwise. The initial phase demands 7 megawatts (MW), scaling rapidly to 29 MW, with long-term engineering projections pointing to a massive 100 MW draw. This exponential load heavily risks triggering expensive grid infrastructure upgrades and peak-demand strain from NorthWestern Energy. Under current frameworks, these multi-million dollar stabilization costs are routinely passed down to everyday Montana families and small businesses. We should not subsidize the immense power demands of an outside tech firm.; 2. High-Volume Water Consumption and Aquifer DepletionData centers are notoriously resource-intensive. Krambu's application outlines a cooling infrastructure consisting of a combination of adiabatic and evaporative cooling towers using an estimated 50,000 gallons of water per month drawn from an on-site well. Drawing thousands of gallons of water out of the shared water table risks impacting the domestic wells that surrounding residential properties rely on. Furthermore, the plan includes discharging roughly 5,000 gallons of wastewater monthly into localized treatment facilities. The temperature, chemical treatments, and contaminant load of this discharge pose unmitigated risks to our localized water systems and the neighboring Blackfoot River ecosystem.; 3. Incompatible Noise and Vibration ProximityThe proposed facility features up to 10 massive evaporative cooling towers located within 500 feet of residential property boundaries. The applicant's estimate of a 55 dB noise footprint is highly idealized and fails to account for continuous, 24/7 low-frequency hums and infrasonic vibrations. Constant low-frequency vibrations are known to cause structural resonance and severe sleep disruption for nearby residents. A continuous, industrial cooling complex of this scale is entirely incompatible with the historic character and peaceful quality of life in the Bonner-Milltown community.; 4. Undoing Decades of Blackfoot River Restoration: The Bonner-Milltown community has spent decades remediating historic industrial pollution from old mill operations and cooling ponds to successfully restore the Blackfoot River ecosystem. Introducing a heavy industrial data center within 500 feet of this sensitive watershed threatens to reverse this hard-won progress. The threat of thermal pollution from wastewater discharge risks raising river temperatures and devastating native bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout. Furthermore, the chemical anti-scaling additives required to run these cooling towers risk leaching into our shallow gravel aquifer. The board must protect our millions of dollars in public restoration investments and reject this ecological threat. ConclusionFrom a sound planning perspective, the economic and public trade-offs of this project are entirely unjust. For a massive 7 MW facility that heavily exploits our local power grid and watershed, the developer is only proposing a meager 20 to 35 permanent jobs. This leaves our community with virtually no long-term employment or economic benefits while externalizing all of the severe ecological and financial risks onto the taxpayers of Missoula County. Because the applicant has failed to prove that these severe impacts can be successfully avoided, mitigated, or compatible with the surrounding neighborhood, the criteria for a Special Exception have not been met.I respectfully ask that the Land Use Board prioritize local residents, respect proper zoning intent, and reject the Krambu data center application.Thank you for your time, service, and consideration of the public record.

Dear Members of the Missoula County Consolidated Land Use Board, I am writing as a local resident and as a former professional city planner to formally request that the board DENY the Special Exception permit for the proposed Krambu AI data center at the former Bonner Mill site. Given my professional background in land-use planning, I understand the high legal threshold an applicant must meet to earn a Special Exception. An applicant must definitively prove complete operational compatibility with nearby residential properties and natural resources. This application fundamentally fails to meet that planning standard, posing direct and unmitigated risks to our local infrastructure, utility rate stability, and a fragile, newly restored ecosystem.I urge the board to deny this permit based on the following critical impacts: 1. Electrical Grid Strain and Cost Shifts to Ratepayers: While the developer claims that purchasing power from the grid will not inflate local consumer rates, the sheer scale of the project suggests otherwise. The initial phase demands 7 megawatts (MW), scaling rapidly to 29 MW, with long-term engineering projections pointing to a massive 100 MW draw. This exponential load heavily risks triggering expensive grid infrastructure upgrades and peak-demand strain from NorthWestern Energy. Under current frameworks, these multi-million dollar stabilization costs are routinely passed down to everyday Montana families and small businesses. We should not subsidize the immense power demands of an outside tech firm.; 2. High-Volume Water Consumption and Aquifer Depletion: Data centers are notoriously resource-intensive. Krambu's application outlines a cooling infrastructure consisting of a combination of adiabatic and evaporative cooling towers using an estimated 50,000 gallons of water per month drawn from an on-site well. Drawing thousands of gallons of water out of the shared water table risks impacting the domestic wells that surrounding residential properties rely on. Furthermore, the plan includes discharging roughly 5,000 gallons of wastewater monthly into localized treatment facilities. The temperature, chemical treatments, and contaminant load of this discharge pose unmitigated risks to our localized water systems and the neighboring Blackfoot River ecosystem.; 3. Incompatible Noise and Vibration Proximity: The proposed facility features up to 10 massive evaporative cooling towers located within 500 feet of residential property boundaries. The applicant's estimate of a 55 dB noise footprint is highly idealized and fails to account for continuous, 24/7 low-frequency hums and infrasonic vibrations. Constant low-frequency vibrations are known to cause structural resonance and severe sleep disruption for nearby residents. A continuous, industrial cooling complex of this scale is entirely incompatible with the historic character and peaceful quality of life in the Bonner-Milltown community.; 4. Undoing Decades of Blackfoot River Restoration: The Bonner-Milltown community has spent decades remediating historic industrial pollution from old mill operations and cooling ponds to successfully restore the Blackfoot River ecosystem. Introducing a heavy industrial data center within 500 feet of this sensitive watershed threatens to reverse this hard-won progress. The threat of thermal pollution from wastewater discharge risks raising river temperatures and devastating native bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout. Furthermore, the chemical anti-scaling additives required to run these cooling towers risk leaching into our shallow gravel aquifer. The board must protect our millions of dollars in public restoration investments and reject this ecological threat.ConclusionFrom a sound planning perspective, the economic and public trade-offs of this project are entirely unjust. For a massive 7 MW facility that heavily exploits our local power grid and watershed would amount to only 20 to 35 permanent jobs. This leaves our community with virtually no long-term employment or economic benefits while externalizing all of the severe ecological and financial risks onto the taxpayers of Missoula County. Because the applicant has failed to prove that these severe impacts can be successfully avoided, mitigated, or compatible with the surrounding neighborhood, the criteria for a Special Exception have not been met. I respectfully ask that the Land Use Board prioritize local residents, respect proper zoning intent, and reject the Krambu data center application.Thank you for your time, service, and consideration of the public record.

Every single data center is an absolute glutton for energy and resources. The companies that are building them constantly misrepresent and downplay the energy required to operate them and their effect on the surrounding environments. The last thing Montana needs is a giant data center, offering low range jobs, that sucks up our energy and resources. Non stop noise pollution and contaminating our water sources should be a non starter period. We are seeing wells and bodies of water being contaminated all over the nation and being exposed at public hearings on the federal level on a weekly basis. There is no need whatsoever for these centers in Montana. Montana should be left as is without slowly destroying it with these data centers. I strongly oppose any data centers within the state of Montana

There has not been sufficient evidence presented by the applicant to avoid potential substantial impacts to, not only the surrounding residents, but the environment and ecosystem surrounding this property. The proposed redevelopment of this brownfield property into an AI Data Center does not benefit the community in any way.
The unknown, highly likely, destructive impacts of the use, and contamination, of Montana water should be taken into account when deciding to approve or deny this project.
Noise and water contamination ARE a definite effect from existing Data Centers across the US. Don’t let fancy wording on a Special Exception Application fool you. The applicant is presenting a “lesser” impact statement on the application when it is certain this is only a gateway to expand and rape this neighborhood and river of everything that is truly special about Montana.
LISTEN to the common sense people of Montana. Say NO definitively to this proposed project.

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This can not happen. Data Centers will destroy Montana and all its natural beauty. The big tech companies keep pushing the message that we must adopt and get on board but that is not true. They are only pushing their agenda. We can say no! We can stand up against them. Data centers will bring massive water use, create huge power demand, create noise and light pollution, and put a strain on local infrastructure — there is no benefit to our local communities - big tech companies just want profit while locals deal with higher utility pressure and environmental impacts. Keep Missoula safe! We want clean rivers, open land, wildlife, and quality of life. We do not want or need industrial-scale server warehouses consuming enormous amounts of energy 24/7. This must be stopped! Don’t let them take the ‘last best place’

This project would hurt our community with no benefits. Everyone should be saying no to this blatant attack on the sustainability of our community. If we do not understand the impacts to our waterways then we cannot approve a project. I do not see how this project will benefit my community. I do know that I will not see a better quality of life. Please consider the overwhelming public outcry towards this center. Thank you for your time

The answer to this needs to be an unequivocal NO! As a lifelong Montanan and a Missoula resident for many years, there has been a noticeable and rapid trend of winters being warmer and drier every year. Rarely do we see snow anymore. Missoula and Bonner are at high risk during fire season, and the depletion and degradation of the water supply a data center would result in would make this problem worse. This data center provides NO benefits to the surrounding community and would only harm this environment and the people living in it. I have yet to hear from a single Missoula or Bonner resident who is in support of this data center being built. Montana is one of the few remaining places where people live in nature rather than replacing it. Our clean air, water, and land is not something we should take for granted, and building a data center here is a sure way to destroy it. Please DO NOT let this data center become a blight on our beautiful state.

Well Erin Brockovich is now taking on the data centers. Missoula County Commisioners slow the roll and wait because you’re going to find out how bad these data centers are. Don’t be behind the 8 ball. They are bad.

Absolutely Not!
Once this goes in no matter what terrible things happen we can't undo it! We have a moral obligation to protect the Blackfoot River and the water quality for future generations. This Data Center will not produce jobs immprove infrastructure or benefit anyone in the local community. The risk of its negative impacts on the quality of life and the environment are just to great. Let's not value the profits and greed of a handful of individuals over being good stewards of the home we are leaving for future generations.
The only way to minimize the disaster this will bring is to not allow it in the first place. Stop the Bonner Data Center now!

I’ve lived in MT my entire life. Every year, a very obvious change in the climate has been presenting itself. It may not be obvious unless you’ve lived here for multiple years in a row, but our moisture is dwindling every season. It’s no secret that AI data centers use water more than citizens in towns combined. To allow something like this to be in a drought state that is already in a water crisis is a reckless for the citizens of Montana. This can NOT happen.

No. Data centers are proven to be detrimental for the health of the people and the land. The amount of water they use is disgusting. Our snowpack is already decreasing each year. This plan does not support the community. AI takes jobs from the people. We are already facing a recession, life is unaffordable. Furthermore, this is sacred land to the tribes. All in all, this is a terrible proposal. No data center! Please!

This data center has absolutely no worthwhile benefits for anybody in Bonner, Missoula, or Montana, and has the potential to cause countless consequences for our community. I have not spoken to a single person who wants this data center. The ecological impacts have the potential to be disastrous. There is absolutely no reason to touch our vital water sources for a project like this. The profits of the few have infinitesimal value in comparison to the well-being of our communities and to protecting our natural water sources and ecosystems. The people of Montana do not want this data center. Do not approve a project that will harm this and future generations for the sake of momentary profits. It would be a horrible disgrace, and a stain on our state.

Fire and drought are the two greatest threats to person and property in Montana right now. A data center capable of raising the ambient temperatures of the surrounding area by 10-20 degrees is a severe threat to the community, and a reckless project in a climate like ours already highly vulnerable to even minor increases in heat.

NO. This data center is a horrible idea. It will not provide sustainable jobs, it will pollute and waste our energy resources, it does not benefit the citizens of Bonner and Missoula county in any sustainable manner. Absolutely NO.

I don't believe anyone is falling for the notion that these data centers have value for the people who live near them. All the money going into the pockets of cities that allow these is provided by those who sell chips, those who sell AI promises, those want to CUT jobs, and those who want to mine bitcoin. None of these are useful for the inhabitants of the city.

The inhabitants of this city are unplugging unused devices to save power and being told to keep the thermostat under 65 in the winter. It's a slap in the face to think they can just build a data center like this because "it's industrially zoned". For Missoula it is a useless and dangerous waste. It's a prime example of how little an individual's efforts matter when measured against the massive waste that big moneyed interests cause on a daily basis.

And they will say that they won't pollute the river, and that they have ecologically sound methods. But the fact is that the government of Montana cares more about making money than anything else, just like congress, the supreme court and the president. So when these people DO pollute the river and we try to stop them, they'll find sympathetic voices all the way to the top. Nobody will stop them. If they say they're not going to pollute, but they can do it with impunity, they will.

I am 100% expecting this to get built, force water restrictions, pollute the river, raise energy prices and take the jobs of people in missoula and elsewhere.

No, No and NoX100!
I've been a home owner along the Blackfoot River for 21 years. I am against a permit for a data center in Bonner. We do not have water or electricity to spare for such a project. Our pristine wilderness is our asset and needs to be kept wild without impact. Back when there was a Bitcoin mining operation at the Bonner Mill site the electrical currents impacted residents and local wildlife. We already know big industry doesn't fit into our river ecosystem. We are on the historic Lewis and Clark Trail, what would they say about this proposed data center? Any county commissioner who supports this will lose all support from the public. The answer is simple, no, no and again no!

I apposed to the proposed Bonner data center because of the potential impacts it could have on our community, natural resources, and quality of life. Residents have already raised serious concerns about increased power demand, water consumption, constant industrial noise, and the long-term strain this project could place on the Bonner and Missoula area. The facility is expected to operate around the clock while providing very few permanent local jobs, raising questions about whether the benefits truly outweigh the costs. Many community members also feel frustrated by the lack of clear answers from developers regarding future expansion, infrastructure needs, and environmental impacts near the Blackfoot River corridor. Bonner is a unique community valued for its natural beauty, outdoor recreation, and small-town character, and I believe projects of this scale should be approached with far more transparency, caution, and public input before moving forward.

Absolutely not. This data center will not be tolerated.