Petition to the Lowndes County Commissioners.
Background:
Lowndes County is under threat from a proposed data center that would adversely affect our health, the character of our community, and our natural resources for decades to come.
Cloverleaf, the developer of the proposed data center, which it has dubbed Project Red Clay, has failed to be transparent about the scope and scale of their project. We are missing critical information that must be considered before any development for a data center, or any large infrastructure, occurs. It is impossible to weigh any decision without knowing the facts.
Lowndes County deserves better.
We, the undersigned, call on the Lowndes County Commission to:
Comply with our Open Records Act request and provide all records on the proposed data center.
On July 27, 2026, attorneys representing the Alabama Rivers Alliance and Protect Lowndes County submitted an open records request to the Lowndes County Commission seeking documentation regarding the proposed data center. No meaningful response has been provided. Given the unprecedented scale of Cloverleaf’s proposed facility, and its unidentified timeline for moving forward, the Commission should promptly release all records relevant to the project so we can meaningfully evaluate it.12
Make public the entities involved, the user(s), and tenant(s) for the proposed data center.
The end customer(s) and tenant(s) of the data center remain publicly unknown. Cloverleaf is also now using shell companies to apply for permits and other authorizations. We demand a complete list of all entities currently involved in the proposed data center project. We are being asked to assess one of the largest industrial development proposals in county history without knowing who will operate the facility. Disclosing the end user is directly relevant to evaluating the project’s projected resource needs. Public officials should not be making decisions about our community without providing us, the residents of Lowndes County, with basic information about who stands to benefit from the project. Additionally, it is impossible to track the status of the project when the developer uses numerous different LLCs to file different paperwork with different government agencies.34
Disclose all data on water and energy use projections, wastewater disposal plans, economic projections, employment estimates, infrastructure impacts, and all other details on this proposal.
According to reports, Cloverleaf has requested 1,500 megawatts of energy capacity from Alabama Power, and 100,000 gallons of water per day from the Pintlala Water System. At the same time, questions remain about the facility’s actual peak and average water demand, cooling technology, wastewater generation and treatment, among many other unknowns. We cannot evaluate the scale and scope of this project without details on the facility.567
Develop a county-run online dashboard where all relevant information on Project Red Clay can be housed and made publicly accessible.
We deserve to see any and all information and applications relevant to the Cloverleaf data center. To date, there has been one poster session on the project, at which inconsistent information was shared with members of the public regarding water consumption, wastewater needs, and other issues that the public has a right to know. Right now, the developer maintains a website with project information, but the information is incomplete and does not represent an unbiased viewpoint of the project impacts. All documentation and information on the proposed data center must be made public on a website maintained by county officials.8910
No decision about the future of Lowndes County should be made behind closed doors. The people who will live with the consequences of this project deserve access to the same information county commissioners, developers, consultants, and other officials have been provided. Transparency is the minimum requirement for informed community participation and accountability.
Protect Lowndes County