Hermantown’s Pushback Against Proposed Data Center

Transcript

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HOST: You're listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a daily newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota.

ANCHOR: In today's broadcast, why the state’s housing stabilization program came to an abrupt end. Then, a city council decision has a northern community concerned about the environment, and Minnesota’s soccer team reaches the Western Conference semifinals.

I'm Chantel SinGs.

The state has officially ended its Medical Assistance Housing Stabilization Services program. The Department of Human Services says the move follows widespread fraud uncovered within the program, which helped seniors and people with disabilities find stable housing. The Department of Human Services is coordinating with counties, Tribes, Urban Indian organizations, and managed care organizations to identify resources to help people impacted by the programs ending.

Next, a proposed Data center in the northern part of the state has provoked strong community reactions and a lawsuit. Victor Palomino talks with the news director at AMPERS station KAXE about the controversy.

Victor Palomino: The Hermantown City Council, near Duluth, recently voted to rezone land to allow for a possible development of a large-scale data center. That decision has sparked community pushback, with residents organizing a lawsuit to stop the project from moving forward.

Chelsey Perkins: There's a grassroots group called Stop the Hermantown Data Center, and they've joined forces with the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, which is the state's largest nonprofit environmental law firm. So they're just basically asking the court to require further environmental review for this data center, and you know, better application of state law to a project like this.

Victor Palomino: That's Chelsey Perkins, news director for AMPERS member station KAXE/KBXE Northern Community Radio. She explained that many in the Hermantown area are concerned about the city's use of what's called an alternative urban area wide review, or a UAR, a planning tool used to study how different development scenarios might affect the local environment. Critics say it falls short of the more rigorous Environmental Impact Statement process.

Chelsey Perkins: The UAR process, however, is less stringent and doesn't necessarily require as much of a process. And that's where this group is saying, hey, wait a minute, we think you should be following this much more stringent process that's already laid out in state law. So that's where the conflict has arisen here.

Victor Palomino: Northern Community Radio has been covering the issue closely, attending public listening sessions organized by the state Environmental Quality Board and talking with residents about their concerns.

Chelsey Perkins: And there's definitely, you know, a lot of concerns for people who are going to be living right next to this particular data center. There's concerns about the amount of water they use, the amount of electricity they use, and just the overall quality of life for people who are living around those and impacts on also property values just as much as about the wildlife and environment of northern Minnesota.

Victor Palomino: Chelsey says the debate over the data center could influence future infrastructure proposals across Minnesota.

Chelsey Perkins: Lots of things to keep an eye on there, and it's something that we're certainly interested in seeing. You know, with the real estate available in northern Minnesota, whether that's something that more data centers may want to try to locate.

Victor Palomino: For now, the Hermantown community is waiting to see how the review process unfolds.

Chelsey Perkins: We did talk to city officials. They confirmed they received the lawsuit and that they'll be doing their appropriate review process and due diligence and follow the legal process. So we'll just have to keep an eye on it as it moves through the court system, which, as we know, can sometimes be a slow process.

Victor Palomino: To listen to this and more stories from the northern part of the state--

Chelsey Perkins: They can find us at KAXE.org.

Victor Palomino: For North Star Stories, I'm Victor Palomino.

Anchor: listening to North Star Stories.

The Minnesota United pulled off a Major League Soccer playoff upset by defeating the Seattle Sounders, keeping their 2025 season alive. The team, also known as The Loons, battled to a 3-3 tie while down a player. Ultimately, the goalkeeper sealed the win in the 10th round of penalty shootouts. With the victory, Minnesota advances to the Western Conference Semifinals on November 21, where they'll face San Diego. The team has been in the playoffs a total of 5 times in their 8 seasons.

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HOST: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. Online at ampers dot org.