미네소타주 허먼타운에 들어설 구글 데이터센터에 대한 공청회가 시위로 중단되면서 하루 연기됐으며, 해당 프로젝트는 소송 등 여러 난관에 직면해 있다.

A hearing for a proposed data center in Hermantown, Minnesota, was shut down amid protests.

The 1.66 million square foot (154,220 square meter) Google data center in Duluth was widely expected to be approved, but the meeting was adjourned after police stopped proceedings. The meeting has been moved to Tuesday, October 27, at 7:30 p.m.

The Hermantown City Council meeting drew both pro- and anti-data center groups. The anti-data center group, the larger "Stop the Hermantown Data Center" movement, loudly chanted slogans against the project. The pro-data center group, mostly wearing green tops that promoted Jobs for Minnesotans, a 501(c)(4) backed by business lobbies, sat quietly in the chamber halls. The "Stop the" protesters were primarily outside the halls, but some managed to get in to make their voices heard.

After two hours of delay caused by the loud protests, the meeting was adjourned. Chief of Police Jim Crace told the crowd they had ten minutes to leave or face detainment for an unsafe and unlawful gathering that disrupted the civic process.

"Hermantown has always been a town where neighbors can disagree with respect," city councilor Andy Hjelle said in a statement.

"People care deeply about what happens here, and passionate discussion is part of small-town life. But shouting down a public meeting to the point where our police officers had to declare an unlawful assembly is completely wrong. That is not who we are, and it is not how Hermantown gets things done."

He added: "Tonight, local folks drove down to City Hall just wanting to take part in their local government. Instead, a coordinated disruption took over the room, shouted down normal business, and drowned out the voices of everyday residents."

Hjelle, the incumbent, faces several opponents in the four-candidate race for two seats on the Hermantown City Council. Data centers are a key issue on the ballot, and Hjelle claims they will help lower property taxes. He has proposed a data center dividend, which could generate $3 million annually in new city property taxes from the Google facility.

Opponents Emma Richtman, Miranda McKay-Chambers, and Candi Mock have all called for more community involvement and greater transparency. Richtman is a member of the Stop the Hermantown Data Center movement.

Ahead of the delayed vote, Google dropped its request for up to $80 million in tax subsidies, reduced the size of the facility, added a well monitoring program, and committed to a quieter campus. The council was also set to vote on whether to approve an agreement with Google to pay to decommission the site if it ceases operations, a first for the hyperscaler.

Even if the facility is approved in the latest attempt at a vote, the data center would still need to obtain a federal air permit and certain state permits. The council has already voted in favor of Minnesota Power building transmission lines to the facility.

Eighty acres of the 234-acre site are also tied up in a lawsuit. Residents claim they sold the land for a solar farm and were misled about its eventual end use. Another lawsuit claims the data center project violates zoning restrictions.