An environmental group is arguing that Louisiana officials did not account for all of the harmful emissions Meta’s data center in Richland Parish will produce when it approved the facility’s Clean Air Act permit revisions in June.

Concerns Over Permit

The Sierra Club maintains that the state agency issued a minor source permit for the data center when it should have applied for a more restrictive major source permit. The group argues that changes to Meta’s Hyperion facility air pollution permit should require it to have a more stringent permit.

The Department of Environmental Quality did not respond to calls and emails seeking its response to the Sierra Club’s comments. A spokesperson from Meta said in an email that the company works closely with regulatory authorities to comply with federal, state, and local air quality and permitting requirements.

The Sierra Club alleged that Meta’s air permit application incorrectly calculates its potential pollution impact, undercounting the facility’s predicted emissions by excluding emissions from diesel generator emergency operation hours.

Permit Details

The permit application does not include emissions from the 10 natural gas-fueled turbines Entergy Corp. is building to provide electricity to the data center. The utility company is responsible for obtaining permits for that aspect of the project.

The Sierra Club is urging state regulators to require the Meta data center to conduct its own air monitoring at the facility as a condition of its permit, as well as consider battery storage as a cleaner energy alternative. The group is also calling for the agency to hold a public hearing on the Hyperion data center’s permit revision.

Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.