Local opinion: Why Pima County must hit the brakes on Project Blue

When families make big decisions — buying a home, signing a loan, planning their future — they take their time. They read the fine print. They don’t make commitments based on speculation. Pima County should do the same, but that’s not happening with Project Blue — a $3.6 billion data-center proposal from Beale Infrastructure, an out-of-state company funded by billionaire tech investors to benefit Amazon Web Services.

For more than two years, negotiations occurred behind closed doors due to non-disclosure agreements. The public, and even elected officials, were kept in the dark until this summer. When the proposal finally came before the Pima County Board of Supervisors— rushed, incomplete, and shielded from public scrutiny — I voted no in June 2025.

At this June meeting, minutes before a narrow 3–2 vote on a land sale tied to an annexation agreement, a Beale executive told the Board of Supervisors that Project Blue would not proceed without the City of Tucson's annexation. That statement shaped the majority vote and created the impression that Beale was partnering in good faith with both local governments — and that Tucson’s involvement was essential.

When the City of Tucson rejected annexation weeks later, citing unanswered environmental questions and in response to clear public opposition, Beale suddenly changed course. The same company that insisted it could not move forward without city partnership now wants to fast-track the land sale through the County alone — and do so before the end of 2025. That is not partnership — it is misrepresentation and coercion by a private entity seeking to purchase public land. When billion-dollar companies mislead the public and local leaders to secure a favorable vote, the responsible path is simple: start over.

When Tucson was part of the plan, city residents stood to gain a reclaimed-water pipeline valued at more than $100 million. Now, that public benefit has vanished. Instead, Beale’s latest proposal offers Pima County residents just $15 million in “community investment,” with only $5 million upfront — roughly 0.14 percent of the project’s total value. That’s the equivalent of tipping 14 cents on a $100 meal. Pima County residents deserve better.

Equally troubling, there are no contractual guarantees of union labor or local hiring. A project of this magnitude should uplift the very workers who build and maintain it. Instead, we’re being asked to approve a billion-dollar land deal with no enforceable labor standards and no transparency about how jobs will be created.

How the data center is cooled remains another major concern. Early agreements emphasized cooling using reclaimed water. Now, Beale says it plans to use air or evaporative cooling, without explanation or public analysis of environmental trade-offs. And, in its latest vague and unsigned communication to Pima County, Beale claims its facility will be “100% renewable.”

To date, Beale and Tucson Electric Power have not confirmed any agreement to make this “goal” possible. If experts are correct that Project Blue’s full buildout would consume more electricity than all Pima County households combined, the public deserves to know how this project plans to keep its lights on — and we deserve assurances that Project Blue won’t increase our electricity bills.

As we approach the 25th Anniversary of the Sonoran Desert Protection Plan, Pima County can and should remain a national leader in sustainable growth and transparent governance. Project Blue — negotiated in secret, rushed to a vote, and built on shifting, unenforceable promises — risks unraveling that progress.

My colleagues who voted to advance this land sale, and County Administration acting on their behalf, must not make a mockery of this land sale, and we should certainly not set a precedent empowering private entities doing business with the County to dictate their own contractual terms.

We must reject the current land sale as presented and use all means to hold Beale accountable. If we sell this land based on empty promises, County taxpayers cannot get it back. And once we surrender our principles, we cannot pretend we still stand for them.