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Wishing you all the best for the long holiday weekend. Here are a few quick updates: Some 60 to 70 people attended a June 15 community forum on data centers and the fate of the Dickerson power plant property. The meeting was hosted by SCA, Sugarloaf Alliance and Montgomery Countryside Alliance. A broad consensus emerged that existing Maryland state and county regulations around data center siting, construction, and management were inadequate given the rapid growth of the industry and its impact on communities and the environment. Read more about the power plant property here. Newly released documents reveal that Frederick Country officials held secret talks in 2019 and 2020 with Amazon Web Services (AWS) on AWS’s proposal to build several large-scale data center “campuses,” including one on land on the west side of I-270 that was slated for protection and conservation under the Sugarloaf Treasured Landscape Management Plan. The documents revealed that AWS and local developers were colluding to skirt county zoning and building regulations. Read more here. Drought conditions continue in Montgomery and Frederick counties, with precipitation about 30% below normal. Many who live in the Ag Reserve rely on a single aquifer for water. Conservation of water is advisable until the situation eases in coming months.
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