Siskiyou County supervisors said they are not considering a proposal to build an artificial intelligence data center at the former Crystal Geyser bottling plant after public outcry about the potential plan.
“We are well aware of the community's opposition to that, with the voluminous letters and phone calls that we received in the last two weeks,” Commissioner Ray Haupt said at this week’s board meeting.
The topic was not on the meeting agenda. But residents showed up to express their disapproval after an unnamed company approached Mount Shasta officials last week with a plan.
“We have nothing pending before the county or county departments regarding data centers,” Haupt said.
Speakers used the public comment portion of the board meeting to float their own ideas for the former bottling facility. Those plans include turning the property into a theater, brewery, hydroponic operation and giving the land to a local tribe. One speaker traveled from Sacramento to voice her opposition.
Mount Shasta City Manager Todd Juhasz said the company, which he wouldn’t name, was likely interested in the property because of its water rights and access to a high-capacity well. Opponents of data centers say the facilities use large quantities of water to cool servers.
The Mount Shasta Police Department said local officials have received death threats over the proposed data center. That’s despite no one in city government coming out in favor of the project.
“The Mount Shasta Police Department will investigate, arrest, and prosecute anyone making such threats to the fullest extent of the law,” the department said in a Facebook post. “That is not a warning, it is a commitment.”
Bay Area firm One Shasta, LLC, bought the former Crystal Geyser building in 2022. The property is in unincorporated Siskiyou County, although Mount Shasta is considering annexation.
Shasta Scout reported that the property listing describes the site as "ideal for data centers or other uses with high water needs."
