Google Data Center moves ahead despite law suit

Pine Island is a small farming town on US52 between St. Paul and Rochester, Minnesota.  Google has announced that they will be building a large-scale data center on 88 acres in a 482 parcel there.  It is likely that more are planned to follow.  The nature of the project was not revealed during the environmental reveiw phase, and the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy has sued, alleging that the reveiw was flawed because the full impact of the project was not assessed.   In this blog post, we provide a short bibiography of resources to learn more about this project which promised a number of environmental upgrades to address issues of concern with data centers.

This article from Minnesota Public Radio provides a good overview of this project.   For a background on data centers in general, why they use so much energy and water, and what living near a data center means, check out this video from Business Insider.

Opponents of hyperscale data centers display banners during a rally at the Minnesota State Capitol February 2026. Nicole Ki | MPR News

Beyonce'? No, BYONCE  
The Pine Island Google Data Center project - Project Skyway - was revealed as a new, green data center.  They will use air-cooling to reduce operating temperatures, greatly reducing water use.  Their energy would come from new, green sources that Google would build - wind, solar and backup batteries for when these sources aren't operating.  This is the BYONCE principal - Bring Your Own Clean Energy.   To learn more about BYONCE - check out this excellent article from Mike Jacobs, Senior Energy Analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists.  

What about the water?
In detailed reporing in the Minnesota Women's Press, Drs. Carly Griffiths and Carrie Jennings look at water use by data centers, potential contmainination and the impacts on other water users n the area.  These concerns are not ameliorated when the data center (or other large water user) is connected to a municipal water supply - this just shifts the impact to a larger community, the city water rate payers.  The Minnesota Legislature is looking at this issue in 2026 - click here to read about a bill now active to begin to address these concerns.  

Legal Actions
The Minnesota Center for Environmenal Advocacy (MCEA) has  brought lawsuits against data center developments in Minnesota, including the Pine Island Skyway project.  This page on the MCEA website provides a good overview of their work here and an opportunity to sign up for updates.  

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Other data center coverage on the LWV UMRR website:
Data Center Gold Rush: Diving into Water Demands - this December 2025 program by LWV UMRR features Sara Mooradian and Peg Furshong of CURE talking about data center developments in Minnesota, with a focus on water concerns.  
Data Center Conference Brings Together Developers, Local Officials and Environmental Groups   This post recaps a November 2025 conference that looks at economic benefits of data centers as well as environmental concerns.  
Minnesota Data Center Law becomes law June 14, 2025 The Minnosta Legisltuare passed their first data center law in 2025 - read about it in this post.  While this bill povided a start on regulation, it leaves gaps in that it does not require disclosure of a project as a data center during the environmental review phase among other things.