Attorney General threatens lawsuit over south Phoenix data center
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told about 150 residents gathered in Mesa that she is investigating the Menlo Digital data center in Ahwatukee and may sue under the state's public nuisance law, the same statute she used against a Saudi-owned alfalfa farm.
Residents described construction noise reaching 110 decibels inside a child's bedroom and repeated sinus infections blamed on construction dust. Phoenix has stationed inspectors at the site and negotiated some concessions, but a 2006 constitutional measure, Proposition 207, may require cities to compensate developers if zoning changes reduce property value.
Mayes, who lacks power to impose a moratorium herself, is counting on the Legislature for that, and on nuisance law for everything else. An Arizona State University study found data centers can raise nearby temperatures by up to four degrees, and one analysis projects water demand could jump more than 450% if all planned Phoenix-area projects are built, even as the state faces losing nearly a third of its Colorado River allocation.
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