The Pima County Board of Supervisors meeting was packed again on Dec. 16: a near-standing-room-only crowd with dozens of people wearing high-visibility construction vests, as well as another dozen or so wearing red.
The bright vests were worn by supporters of a proposed mine and a data center. The red donned by people against the major construction projects.
Dominating the discourse during the call to the public were the ongoing debates about heavy truck use on unpaved roads — how regulating truck traffic in the county could affect the proposed Copper World mine — and the future of Project Blue, the mega data center project that has generated ongoing public debate in Southern Arizona over the last six months.
Near the end of a seven-plus-hour meeting, the supervisors approved the adoption of a Memorandum of Agreement outlining community benefits and project commitments from Beale Infrastructure, the developer of the data center.
The board voted 3-2 in favor of the agreement.
The approval marks a pivotal step toward advancing Project Blue, despite fierce opposition from grassroots community groups, including the No Desert Data Center Coalition.
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Supervisors Andrés Cano, of District 5, and Jen Allen, of District 3, spoke passionately about their opposition to Project Blue. They both acknowledged the importance of economic development and expressed their support of union jobs. But neither voted in favor of the agreement, saying the possible serious environmental harms far outweighed any economic benefits.
Cano called the agreement a “press release with an exit door,” saying there were not enough enforceable commitments.
“I am disheartened and disappointed,” Cano said before the vote. He said Project Blue has divided the community and the contract was rushed. He recalled past instances of dangerous and deadly environmental harms inflicted on Tucson by large institutions, including the U.S. Air Force and Brush Ceramic Products, a manufacturing site that resulted in beryllium, a toxic metal, infiltrating nearby soil.
“My grandmother worked there, was exposed there, and ultimately lost her life to the very harm we were begging the government to mitigate,” Cano said.
“This board could have shown a little bit of courage,” he added, suggesting county administrators should have brought the board a better contract and insisted on knowing the end user of the data center.
Beale promises to use less water
The agreement is the county’s attempt to lock in voluntary commitments from Beale before closing on the land purchase. Under the agreement:
- The data center will be kept from overheating by relying on a closed-loop air-cooling system. Water consumption will only be for domestic necessities, such as bathrooms and kitchens and water sources will be approved by the Arizona Department of Water Resources.
- Beale will “use commercially reasonable efforts to match one hundred percent (100%) of its energy consumption with renewable energy.” An “independent and qualified third-party verifier” will annually assess whether Beale has achieved its commitment.
- Beale commits to $15 million in community donations over the project’s life, including a $5 million initial investment for STEM scholarships, trade school funding and apprenticeships. The remaining $10 million will support initiatives such as digital equity and fiber infrastructure expansion.
The sale itself stems from an earlier contract Pima County approved in June, which obligated the county to sell the 290-acre parcel to Humphrey’s Peak for $20.8 million. That contract included a 180-day review period that concluded in mid-December and allowed the sale to proceed even without Tucson city annexation — a key pivot that has kept Project Blue alive despite Tucson City Council voting unanimously against the project in August.
Support and concern
Unlike past meetings, the public discussion of Project Blue was less one-sided. Many of the people who spoke for the project during the call to the public were members of construction unions. They repeatedly invoked the jobs the data center would bring.
“We’re talking about billions in capital investment, thousands of construction jobs, and hundreds of permanent jobs,” said a union representative during public comment, noting that wages and benefits tied to the project could elevate local labor markets.
Beale has said the data center would require thousands of construction jobs.
Yet opponents remain resolute in their criticism.
“We’ve come before you for six months,” said Vivek Bharathan of the No Desert Data Center Coalition during the call to the public, reiterating long-held concerns that the sale itself is invalid and opaque. “Our position is that the sale isn’t valid,” Bharathan told Arizona Luminaria, charging that the county has failed to provide the public with the information driving its decision-making.
Local activist Raye Winch raised alarms about potential health and environmental impacts, urging supervisors to delay final action in favor of comprehensive impact studies. “We know that when corporations poison our communities, we don’t get our mammas and papas back,” Winch said.
In a statement before the vote, Chair Rex Scott, of District 1, said some opponents engaged in “unduly alarmist and defeatist rhetoric.”
Scott praised the economic benefits of the project, noting the money from the land sale and increased tax revenue. “The people we represent must see that we are using this money in ways that enhance our ability to deliver the services and supports they count on from us,” Scott said.
In a statement after the vote, the No Desert Data Center Coalition criticized the board’s decision.
“The people of Southern Arizona clearly said no to Project Blue. Instead of standing with us, Supervisors Scott, Heinz and Christy sold us out and chose to give billionaires a harmful hyperscale data center for Christmas, leaving us with scraps.”
What comes next
With the memorandum of agreement approved and the sale effectively finalized, Beale is poised to close on the property by Dec. 25.
And yet the fight over Project Blue may not be over. Community groups are considering next steps, and elected officials — both within Pima County and across the city of Tucson — are bracing for ongoing debate.
In an executive session earlier in the meeting, supervisors also discussed an ordinance to limit the use of heavy trucks on unpaved roads in Pima County. After an hour-long closed-door discussion, the supervisors voted 4-0 to remove from the agenda a public hearing and possible vote on the ordinance.
The ordinance would have limited the number of trucks used by the mining company behind the proposed mine in the Santa Rita Mountains.
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