Why Should Delaware Care?
The plan for a massive data center near Delaware City has garnered backlash from residents who are worried about its potential impact on energy costs and the environment. Today’s ruling could stop the project from moving forward entirely. 

Delaware’s environmental agency ruled Wednesday morning that a plan for a massive data center near Delaware City is not allowed under the state’s Coastal Zone Act. 

This decision could stop the project from moving forward entirely, unless developer Starwood Digital Ventures wins an appeal or makes major changes to its design. 

The Delaware General Assembly passed the Coastal Zone Act in 1971 to protect the state’s coastal areas from the impacts of heavy industry.

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) decided that the proposed data center near Delaware City, dubbed Project Washington, is not allowed under the law primarily because of its diesel generators.

The data center plan calls for 516 backup diesel generators that would operate in the case of a power outage. They would together need 2.5 million gallons of stored diesel, which DNREC Secretary Gregory Patterson called “entirely unprecedented” in his ruling. 

“The large tank farm that is incorporated into this proposal will pose exactly the types of risks that justify the categorical exclusion of such a tank farm from the Coastal Zone,” Patterson wrote.

The most backup generators currently at a facility in the Coastal Zone is eight, he wrote. 

New Castle County Councilman Dave Carter, who previously worked for DNREC and has been trying to regulate data centers, said he thought the agency made the right decision. 

“Personally, I didn’t see how they could find the decision any other way,” he said. 

Carter said he believes an appeal of the decision would be “a difficult, very long process” and that Starwood may have to try to find other ways to generate the backup power needed to keep the facility running 24/7. 

Dustyn Thompson, chapter director of Sierra Club Delaware, called the decision a “monumental win for the environment.”

“We applaud the Department and the administration for standing up for our environment and our communities and ensuring that neither bears the brunt of this new heavy industry,” he wrote in an emailed statement. 

House Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown, who represents the district where Project Washington would be located, posted on Facebook thanking those who submitted public comments to DNREC ahead of the decision. 

“This decision reflects the very real concerns raised by residents about environmental impact, air pollution, large scale fuel storage, and the potential risks to our community’s health and quality of life,” she wrote. “Those concerns were heard, carefully evaluated, and ultimately validated.”

Starwood representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This is a breaking story that will be updated.