The builders of the Project Blue data center improperly used Tucson drinking water for dust control after beginning construction last month, according to City Manager Tim Thomure.
In a letter dated May 4, Thomure notified project developers Beale Infrastructure that the city had revoked a temporary water meter issued to the company’s contractor, Ames Construction.
“As you are well aware, the City of Tucson Mayor and Council unanimously rejected any involvement with, or support for, the Project Blue Data Center Development. As such, the City of Tucson also rejected any use of our water resources for this facility,” he wrote.
That vote happened in August, leaving Project Blue without a water source and leaving Pima County to hammer out agreements with the project’s developers,
“To our amazement, we were alerted to the fact that your contractor obtained a construction meter from within the Tucson Water service area, and transported that water out of our service area for use on the Project Blue site. This was completely unacceptable and was terminated by Tucson Water immediately,” Thomure wrote.
Thomure’s letter asked Beale Infrastructure to “make Tucson’s water supply whole” by giving the city two acre-feet of water credits.
“The city issued a permit for temporary water per the normal course of business. Our contractor followed standard procedure and will be billed accordingly. We are procuring construction water from an alternative source for non-potable use,” Beale Infrastructure wrote in an emailed statement.
Thomure’s letter said Ames Construction obtained the meter on April 24.
“A citizen made a comment to a Ward 4 staffer asking if the dust control water for Project Blue was coming from the City, or another source. That comment triggered City staff to investigate any recent requests for a construction meter in the area,” city spokesperson Andy Squire wrote to AZPM.
Squire said the meters allow builders to temporarily connect to fire hydrants, usually to control dust on construction sites. He said Ames Construction followed normal procedures to obtain the meter, but that they are “expected” to be used within the city. He said Tucson’s water system is close to the Project Blue site, which is just outside city limits.
“The city cannot speculate as to their motives to accessing water from our system when we had clearly rejected their use of our water resources for this project,” he wrote.
Thomure’s letter was made public on Facebook by Ward 3 council member Kevin Dahl with the caption “not all heroes wear capes.”
“That social media’s gotten more hits than anything I’ve ever done,” Dahl told AZPM.
He said the start of construction made him feel “lied to” because developers had told the city they couldn’t build Project Blue without a city water source.
“Part of me always cries when I see the desert being bleeded,” Dahl, who formerly directed the Tucson Bird Alliance, said.
Construction on the Project Blue data center began late last month to protests by opponents of the project, who have criticized its potential environmental impact and what they call lacking transparency by local officials throughout its approval process.
