Local opinion: Why Is the Board of Supervisors rejecting a public health review before Project Blue Vote?

In the coming weeks, Pima County Board of Supervisors (BoS) is poised to give Beale Industries, the powerhouse behind Project Blue, the green light to proceed with plans to build data centers on County land. This renewed momentum comes after a summer of local organizing spearheaded by No Desert Data Center Coalition to the success of earning Tucson City Council’s unanimous rejection of Project Blue on August 6th.

Leading up to that unanimous vote, through two town halls and numerous speakers at City Council meetings, residents expressed concerns over the public health impacts Project Blue poses. The City listened by issuing their unanimous rejection. The County responded by issuing Policy 31.4 on September 2nd.

Policy 31.4 authorizes an enhanced due diligence project for economic development projects with evaluations for both environmental and public health reviews triggered by a few factors, most notably for Project Blue the existence of a NDA. Had Policy 31.4 preceded Project Blue, its enhanced due diligence process would have been activated.

The BoS has since rejected an alternate pathway towards a health review. On October 22nd, the County Board of Health (BoH) unanimously recommended the BoS “utilize the due diligence ordinance” ahead of deciding Project Blue’s future. Of note, the BoH recommendation was relayed to the BoS almost a full month later on November 17th and waited another two weeks before being discussed on the December 2nd BoS agenda where it was rejected by a 3-2 vote. Cited was the administrative burden and tight timeline to issue a review by Beale’s Christmas Day deadline; County Administrator Jan Lesher stated, “I don’t think we have the ability to get this done on time.”

The health impacts of data centers are not a big secret. Nationwide, regions housing data centers have raised the alarm of health impacts from so-called “digital smog.” Both retrospective and prospective modeling data support these anecdotal accounts.

Northern Virginia, a global hub for data centers, is a prime example. Permits for the use of backup generators, which are heavily associated with nitrous oxide air emissions, have increased 70% since 2023 (compared to all permits issued in the two decades prior). For every year of use, backup generators have held a $200-300 million public health cost at standard operating capacity - this does not include emergency use, often necessary during extreme weather, something to which the Sonoran desert is no stranger.

Prospectively, by 2028, nationwide annual public health costs are expected to cost $20 billion, and cause 600,000 additional cases of asthma and 1,300 premature deaths by 2030. As always, less-resourced households will experience greater impact; households that already experience a higher incidence of respiratory-related diseases will bear a 200-fold burden of public health effects.

Although Amazon (the former end-user) walked back its water-cooling plan for Project Blue, the presence of PFAS exposure in wastewater is linked to an array of biological disruption. Should the ultimate Project Blue end-user revert to initial water-cooling plans, PFAS will represent another public health threat.

Although the true costs of data centers are still unfolding, there exists undeniably compelling evidence that data centers hold inherent health consequences. It is burgeoning best practice to perform health-informed AI, which includes the use of a health impact review.

Pima County has failed to practice this model of responsibility and dragged its feet through any consideration of a health review. The County is fully aware its residents desire a health review. This was made abundantly clear at both City and County public meetings, town halls, and media reports since the beginning of summer 2025.

Of course a health review should be comprehensive, and therefore may pose an administrative burden, but that alone is not a compelling reason to ignore best practice or avoid due diligence. The BoS does not have time for a health review solely because it did not make time for one. It is pure administrative delay, not administrative burden; a burden that, in the reality of Project Blue, will leave us wondering to what health detriment will Pima County facilitate by allowing Project Blue to settle in the Sonoran?