University of Michigan chooses Ypsilanti Township site for research computing and data center
University of Michigan sets its sights on Ypsilanti Township for the future home of its $1.25 billion data center and research facility.
The university chose a 144-acre site along the Huron River to build the project in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Ypsilanti Township officials say they don't trust what U of M and Los Alamos are telling them about the true nature of the research and environmental impact from the computing facility and data center they hope to build at the corner of Textile and Bridge roads.
"Their word means nothing to us," said Ypsilanti Township attorney Doug Waters.
"I haven't met anybody who wants this," said Ypsilanti Township Supervisor Brenda Stumbo.
The facility promises innovation in medicine, clean energy, engineering, and national security through large-scale computer modeling and simulations, according to the university. They say it will use only one-tenth of the energy required to run commercial data centers. Township leaders say they're skeptical.
"We don't know what they're going to be doing because there's no deed restrictions on this property. So, it might start out today as research/computational, but they've never built anything and just did a one-and-done," Waters said.
The university says there will be research into the safety and reliability of America's nuclear stockpile, and no nuclear materials will ever come to or be built at the site. Township leaders fear this type of research makes Ypsilanti a target.
"It's dangerous. They're the brains of war. They do the research and development of it," Stumbo said.
"If in fact they wanted us to trust them that they were not going to have hazardous materials on site or do nuclear manufacturing, there's nothing in the deed that restricts them from doing that," Waters said.
There are also concerns that the people who live here have been left out of the planning process.
"I've been very disappointed in the university's lack of public engagement. Residents feel very strongly about this and have been very clear that this is not a project that they support," said District 5 Washtenaw County Commissioner Justin Hodge.
That's a key reason why one of Michigan's own regents, Paul Brown, and Rep. Debbie Dingell say they're against the project too. U of M is planning a community town hall on Sept. 9 to hear from residents.
