For the first time, Google hosted a public open house about its proposed data center in Botetourt County.
Hundreds of people flooded into Lord Botetourt High School Wednesday to learn more about Google's proposed data center – and to voice their opposition to it. The two-hour open house was preceded by a protest in front of the high school, and people holding signs lingered throughout.
Shirley Jarusek lives in Troutville, about two miles from the data center's proposed site in the Greenfield business park.
"A lot of my neighbors are very concerned about this," Jarusek said. "They're concerned about what the noise level's going to be. They're concerned about the water. They're concerned about how much environmental destruction is going to happen. they're concerned about what their property values will be once the data center is built close to their home. Lots and lots of concerns."
In the gymnasium, several different booths covered different aspects of the data center. The biggest crowd was around the table devoted to water.
Jessi Bearman handed out flyers opposing the project. Bearman said she's worried about what the data center could do to the region's drinking water.
"Carvin's Cove is already at risk," Bearman said. "Right now, if you look at it, it's already way down due to the drought. The full capacity of Carvin's Cove is 10 to 12 million gallons per day, Google will use 80% of that once they are at full capacity."
Clay Alsop, Google's regional head of data center public affairs, said Google's working with the Western Virginia Water Authority on a plan.
"Our coordination with the water authority has really followed three things," Alsop said. "We're working on minimizing the amount of water that we use. We're working on replenishing the water that we use. Additionally we're working to make recreational improvements to Carvin's Cove. I think between those three things, we'll find the data center has been a value add to the community."
Google says they'll be a good neighbor and bring community benefits through tax revenue, volunteer work and charitable giving.
Opponents say, they're not giving up the fight.
