The Tracker
Data center lawsuits, tracked
Every major legal fight between communities and data centers, reported from court records, filings, and primary news coverage. Where a dispute never became a lawsuit, we say so; the no-suit stories often teach the most.
- 39
- cases and disputes
- 20
- in active litigation
- 20
- states
- By company
- Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, xAI, Google, OpenAI, QTS
- Updated
- September 18, 2026
- Regulatory fightTennessee
Bradley County Made Data Centers Almost Impossible in April. In August, 850 Acres Asked to Join the City Instead, Where the Proposed Setback Is 500 Feet Rather Than 3,000.
On April 20, 2026 the Bradley County Commission unanimously passed data center rules a commissioner said made approval "99.9% impossible": a 3,000 foot setback from homes, schools and churches. On August 25 an 850 acre site on Old Lower River Road was submitted for annexation into the City of Cleveland, where the proposed ordinance sets a 500 foot setback. The developer says Project River is not a data center. Its own $11.3 billion breakdown puts $7.3 billion into data center buildings and 525 of 900 jobs into data center operations. Here is the record, the arithmetic, and the three dates that decide it.
Municipal annexation and rezoning authority · Planned Unit Development conditions as enforceable land use controls · County zoning jurisdiction and its limits at the city line · Tennessee Open Meetings Act · No suit filed
- Regulatory fightVirginia
Loudoun Is Trying to Pause the Largest Data Center Market on Earth. The County's Own FAQ Says It Cannot, and the Projects That Matter Are the Ones a Pause Cannot Touch.
Loudoun County, Virginia voted 6 to 1 in July 2026 to bring back options for pausing new data center applications, and on September 2 voted unanimously to get a legal opinion on rescinding the grandfathering it granted 5 to 4 in March 2025. The county's own FAQ says a moratorium is not legally permissible in Virginia. The 17 to 23 grandfathered applications, roughly 11 million square feet, are the only pipeline a pause cannot reach and the only place the money and the lawsuit risk actually sit. Here is the record, with the dates, the votes, the statute, and what a resident can still do.
Dillon Rule: Board of Supervisors v. Horne, 216 Va. 113 (1975) · Virginia Code 15.2-2286: zoning ordinance amendments and the one year bar on refiling · Virginia Code 15.2-2307: vested rights · Special exception review under the March 2025 amendments · No suit filed
- Dispute, no suit filedMissouri
Ferguson Voted This Down in May. It Is Back With $7.5 Million Added, the Same 75 Percent Abatement, and a Term Sheet That Budgets $400 Million for Power the Project Says It Will Not Use.
Ferguson's City Council rejected the Project Butterfly tax abatement 3 to 3 on May 5, 2026. On September 10 it returned at first reading with $7.5 million for a neighborhood nonprofit attached and the abatement unchanged. The city's own term sheet budgets $400,000,000 for power grid infrastructure on a campus the developer says will never exceed its historical 14 megawatts. The Ferguson-Florissant School District puts its loss at $71 million over 15 years. Here is the record, line by line, including which resident claims we could verify and which we could not.
Missouri Chapter 100 industrial development bond authority · Municipal zoning and site plan authority · Missouri Sunshine Law · Utility ratemaking before the Missouri Public Service Commission · No suit filed
- Dispute, no suit filedIowa
Ames, Iowa Has Not Decided Yet. A Data Center Is Proposed on City Land, and Residents Can Still Apply to the Committee That Advises the Vote.
LightEdge asked the City of Ames to negotiate a lease for 10.86 acres of airport land for a colocation data center that would draw 3 megawatts at first and 25 megawatts at full buildout. Nothing has been approved. About 400 people turned out for a June 30, 2026 listening session, the Council ordered a study committee on July 28, and applications to sit on that committee close September 9, 2026. No lawsuit has been filed. Here is the record and what is still undecided.
Municipal zoning and site plan authority · Municipal utility ratemaking and excess facilities charges · Iowa Open Meetings Law · Certiorari review under Iowa Code 414.15 · No suit filed
- Plaintiff winOhio
Ashville, Ohio Put a Data Center Deal on the Ballot. The Ohio Supreme Court Made It Possible by Reading One Paragraph.
Ashville village council passed its EdgeConneX data center resolution as an emergency, which in Ohio normally puts a measure beyond a citizen vote. On August 7, 2026 the Ohio Supreme Court granted a peremptory writ of mandamus in State ex rel. McNamara-Smith v. Grube, holding the resolution did not contain sufficiently specific reasons to have been passed as an emergency. The decision, the record, and how an Ohio municipal referendum actually works.
Mandamus · Ohio municipal referendum, R.C. 731.29 and 731.30 · Emergency legislation · Legislative versus administrative action
- Dispute, no suit filedOhio
A Licking County Township Took Data Centers Out of Its Zoning Code in Eight Minutes. The Whole Record Is Public.
On March 10, 2026 the St. Albans Township trustees adopted Resolution 3/10/26 A, striking data processing, internet service, telecommunications, and other information services from the conditional uses of the General Business district. No lawsuit was filed. The county staff report, the zoning commission vote, the minutes, and the one thing in the posted resolution that does not match.
Township zoning text amendment · R.C. 519.12 amendment and referendum procedure · Comprehensive plan consistency · No suit filed
- Active litigationMissouri
Independence, Missouri: A 16 Count Suit, a City Owned Power Company, and the Records That Are Actually Public
Residents along Bly Road in the Little Blue Valley filed a 16 count, 52 page suit against the City of Independence, Missouri ADC Holdings LLC and Independence Power Partners LP over the Nebius AI campus, and reported seeking a temporary restraining order. We could not obtain the court record, so here is what we could obtain: the ordinance number, the bond amount, the roll call vote, the moratorium resolutions, the pending zoning and utility ordinances, and what Missouri's Sunshine Law lets a resident demand.
Missouri Sunshine Law, Chapter 610 RSMo · Zoning and land use · City charter violations · Failure to enforce municipal codes · Injunctive relief
- Active litigationGeorgia
Georgia Families Sue Meta Over Their Wells: The Newton County Data Center Water Lawsuit
After more than a year of muddy wells, petitions, and a congressional visit, four Newton County families sued Meta and the local development authority in late August 2026, alleging that clearing, blasting, and excavation for the Stanton Springs data center disturbed the aquifer and filled their well water with silt. What the suit says, what Meta says, and what it means for every homeowner on a well near a data center site.
Well water contamination from construction · Property damage · Loss of use and enjoyment
- SettledOregon
Amazon's $20.5 Million Nitrate Settlement: The First Big Tech Data Center Water Payout
Amazon Data Services agreed in March 2026 to pay $20.5 million to settle a class action alleging that wastewater from its 13 eastern Oregon data centers contributed to nitrate contamination in the Lower Umatilla Basin, where tens of thousands of residents rely on groundwater. Amazon denies wrongdoing. What the case alleged, how the money will be used, and why it is the benchmark for every data center water claim that follows.
Class action · Groundwater nitrate contamination · Clean Water Act (per legal analysis of the case)
- Active litigationWisconsin
The Microsoft Fairwater Noise Class Action: 1,000 Households Take On a Hyperscale AI Campus
Three Sturtevant, Wisconsin residents filed a 2026 class action over noise from Microsoft's 1.2 million square foot Fairwater data center in Mount Pleasant, seeking to represent everyone within 1.5 miles, more than 1,000 households. Per reporting, it is the first noise class action against a hyperscale AI data center. What the case claims, why it matters, and what class membership means for residents.
Private nuisance (noise) · Class action
- Active litigationMississippi
Haley v. xAI: 10,000 Southaven Neighbors Sue Over the Roar of 57 Gas Turbines
On June 8, 2026, Southaven, Mississippi residents filed a federal class action against xAI, its subsidiary MZX Tech, and SpaceX over near-constant noise and vibration from the gas turbine fleet powering the Colossus 2 data center, a fleet the complaint says grew from 3 to 57 turbines in under a year. More than 10,000 people are in the proposed class. What the suit alleges, how it differs from the NAACP's Clean Air Act case, and what it means for anyone living near on-site power.
Public nuisance · Private nuisance · Negligence · Negligence per se · Negligent infliction of emotional distress · Class action
- Active litigationMississippi
NAACP v. xAI: The Clean Air Act Fight Over Colossus's Gas Turbines
The NAACP, represented by SELC and Earthjustice, is suing xAI in federal court over 27 allegedly unpermitted gas turbines powering the Colossus 2 data center in Southaven, Mississippi, after a parallel permit fight in Memphis. Status, stakes, and what it means for data center neighbors everywhere.
Clean Air Act citizen suit · Unpermitted major source operation
- Active litigationVirginia
Louisa County Homeowner v. Amazon: Brown Well Water, Dust, and Noise Reach the Courthouse
In late July 2026, a Louisa County, Virginia homeowner sued Amazon over data center campus construction, alleging brown and contaminated well water, dust, and loud noise, under nuisance, negligence, and property damage theories. It is one of the first individual homeowner damage suits against a hyperscaler in Virginia. What the case claims and what neighbors with similar problems should document.
Private nuisance · Negligence · Property damage
- Plaintiff winVirginia
The Prince William Digital Gateway Lawsuit: How a Notice Defect Voided the World's Biggest Data Center Project
Preservationists and Oak Valley residents sued Prince William County in January 2024 over the Digital Gateway rezonings. A circuit judge voided the approvals on defective public notice, the Virginia Court of Appeals affirmed, Compass and the county walked away, and on July 2, 2026 QTS withdrew its final appeal at the Supreme Court of Virginia and said it was terminating the project. Full history and what it teaches every community fighting a data center.
Zoning and land use challenge · Statutory public notice defects
- Active litigationOhio
Wilmington v. Its Neighbors: The $4 Billion Amazon Data Center a Federal Judge Sent Back to Square One
Jessica and Logan Sharp sued the City of Wilmington, Ohio in federal court on March 25, 2026 over the approvals for a $4 billion, 471 acre Amazon Web Services data center. On July 14, a federal judge found that three ordinances, the rezoning, the data center use rules, and the generator noise standards, violated Ohio's public notice law and ordered the city to redo them, and barred the planning commission from silencing public comment. The city's answer: re-pass them as emergency measures immune from referendum. What happened, and what it says about how cities fight their own residents.
Fourteenth Amendment due process · Ohio Revised Code 713.12 public notice · Open meetings and public participation
- Active litigationMissouri
The St. Louis Armory Data Center Lawsuit: Residents and Advocates Take a $3 Billion Permit to Court
On August 28, 2026, St. Louis residents, the Missouri Workers' Center, and the Missouri Coalition for the Environment sued the City of St. Louis, its Board of Adjustment, and developer David Lambiaso over the conditional use permit for a $3 billion hyperscale data center near the Armory in Midtown. After roughly 11 hours of public comment, the board had rejected the appeals; the suit says it acted arbitrarily and contrary to law and that a data center is not a permitted conditional use in the district. What the case argues and why urban data center permits are the next front.
Administrative review of a conditional use permit · Arbitrary and capricious agency action · Use not permitted in district
- Active litigationIllinois
The Grayslake Lawsuit: Nine Neighbors Sue to Void a 472 Acre, 1.55 Gigawatt Data Center Campus
On July 31, 2026, a residents' collective and nine Lake County homeowners sued the Village of Grayslake, T5 Data Centers, and Alter Asset Management to void approvals for T5@Chicago IV, a 472 acre, 10 million square foot campus drawing about 1.55 gigawatts. The suit alleges a 61 second hearing, code-name-only public notices, an Open Meetings Act violation, and approvals for a use the zoning code does not contain. What the case says and what it means for anyone facing a fast-tracked approval.
Substantive due process · Defective public notice · Open Meetings Act · Ultra vires zoning approval
- Active litigationIllinois
The Joliet Technology Center Lawsuit: Residents Challenge a $20 Billion, 1.8 Gigawatt Rezoning
On May 18, 2026, three Elwood residents and a newly formed nonprofit sued the City of Joliet and the developers of the Joliet Technology Center, a 795 acre, 24 building, 1.8 gigawatt campus valued at $20 billion, arguing the March 2026 rezoning from agricultural to light industrial was unconstitutional, the public notice never mentioned a data center, and residents were denied cross-examination. The city calls voiding the vote too extreme a remedy. Judge Victoria Breslan heard motions September 8, 2026.
Unconstitutional rezoning · Open Meetings Act · Defective public notice · Due process
- Active litigationNorth Carolina
The Stokes County Project Delta Lawsuit: 1,845 Acres on the Dan River, a 3 to 2 Vote, and a Burial Ground
On March 12, 2026, seven Stokes County families and four organizations, including the National Hairston Clan and the Dan River Basin Association, sued the Stokes County Board of Commissioners over its January 2026 vote to rezone roughly 1,845 acres of residential-agricultural land on the Dan River for the Project Delta hyperscale data center, overriding the Planning Board. The suit, brought by the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and the Southern Environmental Law Center, alleges defective notice, no factual basis, and no assessment of noise, air, water, or the Saura and Hairston sites on the land.
Defective public notice · Rezoning without factual basis · Inadequate public participation · Failure to assess impacts
- Dispute, no suit filedKansas
Project Helium in Barber County, Kansas: Google's Data Center Was Approved by Development Agreement, Not Zoning. Here Is What That Leaves Residents.
On August 31, 2026 the Barber County Commission approved Google's Project Helium by development agreement, 2 to 0 with one abstention, in a county with no zoning office. What the agreement promises, why the usual 30 day zoning challenge may not apply, and which clocks under Kansas open meetings law still run.
Kansas Open Meetings Act · Judicial review under K.S.A. 12-760, if zoning applies · County contracting authority · No suit filed
- Dispute, no suit filedIllinois
Sangamon County Approved a 600 Megawatt CyrusOne Campus as a Conditional Use in a Farm Zone, on a Grain Elevator Analogy
On April 7, 2026 the Sangamon County Board granted zoning for a roughly $500 million, 280 acre, 600 megawatt CyrusOne campus near Waverly by a vote of 17 to 10 with one abstention. It was not a rezoning and not a variance. County staff analogized a hyperscale data center to a large grain elevator and routed it as a conditional permitted use inside the Agricultural district. What the county record shows, what it does not, and why the mechanism decides what a challenger would be appealing.
Conditional use approval under county zoning · Illinois zoning review · Counties Code limits on county authority · No court record obtained
- Dispute, no suit filedNebraska
Cass County, Nebraska Paused Data Centers and a Village Banned Them Outright. No Lawsuit Was Filed, and That Is the Point.
After Tenaska optioned 1,354 acres in Cass County for a proposed natural gas plant and data center tied to Google, the county commissioners voted 5 to 0 on August 11, 2026 for a twelve month moratorium and the village of Nehawka banned data centers in every zoning district on August 26. No suit has been filed. Here is how residents did it and what Nebraska law gives the next community.
Zoning and moratorium authority · Nebraska Open Meetings Act · Conditional use permit review · No suit filed
- Active litigationIowa
Salix, Iowa: The Annexation Fight Standing Between a Cornfield and a Data Center
The town of Salix, Iowa annexed roughly 900 acres of Woodbury County farmland in April 2026. MidAmerican Energy started the project and Google was named as the prospective customer in August 2026. Woodbury County went to court over the annexation, three Salix residents filed their own challenge alleging four defects in the process, and the city moved to dismiss on August 21, 2026. No court has ruled. What the case turns on and why annexation is becoming the front line.
Iowa voluntary annexation procedure · Notice to adjoining landowners · Judicial review of a city annexation
- DismissedKansas
City of Edgerton v. Its Own Residents: The Kansas Lawsuit to Kill a Citizen Data Center Ban
On August 14, 2026, the City of Edgerton, Kansas sued the residents behind a citizen petition that would ban high-impact data centers, asking a Johnson County judge to declare the petition void before it can reach a vote. The county had already verified the signatures. The city says the petition rests on false claims about water and power; the petitioners say the city is trying to stop a vote it might lose. A DAMAC data center is already moving into Logistics Park. What the case says about who gets to decide.
Declaratory judgment · Validity of citizen initiative petition · Injunction against a ballot measure
- Active litigationMichigan
Valenzuela v. Alliance Cloud Services: The Dowagiac, Michigan Data Center Noise Class Action
Two Dowagiac, Michigan residents filed a federal class action on May 26, 2026 against Alliance Cloud Services over round-the-clock noise from a 30 megawatt AI and crypto computing facility that has run since March 2022. The proposed class covers about 1,300 properties within a mile. Constant readings of 50 to 62 decibels, a city ordinance capping residential noise at 65 by day and 55 at night, and an operator planning to grow to 340 megawatts: what the case alleges and why it matters.
Private nuisance · Public nuisance · Negligence · Class action
- DismissedNew Jersey
Montgomery v. DataOne USA: The Vineland, New Jersey Noise Class Action Filed and Withdrawn in 24 Days
On May 26, 2026, two Vineland, New Jersey residents filed a federal class action over a constant industrial hum from a 2.6 million square foot AI data center run by Nebius, on behalf of about 1,013 households within a mile. On June 19, the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed it without prejudice. What the complaint alleged, why a withdrawal is not a loss, and what New Jersey did next.
Private nuisance · Public nuisance · Negligence · Class action
- Active litigationNew York
Demers v. Digi Power X: The Three Mile Noise Class Action Against a Crypto Mine Turning Into an AI Data Center
In April 2026, three North Tonawanda, New York residents filed a federal class action against Digi Power X over nearly four years of round-the-clock cooling fan noise from a bitcoin mining operation in a former gas peaker plant at 1070 Erie Avenue, on behalf of everyone within three miles. The suit seeks damages, punitive damages, an injunction, and a medical monitoring program, and the company is converting the site into an AI data center. What the case alleges and why the three mile radius and the medical monitoring demand are new.
Private nuisance · Public nuisance · Negligence · Negligent infliction of emotional distress · Medical monitoring · Class action
- Active litigationCalifornia
The Imperial Valley Water Lawsuit: A Data Center Developer Sues for 260 Million Gallons of Colorado River Water
In June 2026, Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing sued the Imperial Irrigation District in Imperial County Superior Court after the district rejected its application for about 260 million gallons a year of Colorado River water, roughly 750,000 gallons a day, to cool an AI data center near the city of Imperial. The developer's theory: lease 160 acres of farmland, fallow it, and divert the water. The county answered with an emergency pause. Why this case inverts the usual fight and what it means for every water-stressed region facing a campus.
Water rights · Challenge to an irrigation district's denial · Developer as plaintiff
- Active litigationGeorgia
Coweta County's Project Sail Lawsuit: Residents Sue to Void a $17 Billion Data Center Rezoning
Seventeen Coweta County residents, farmers, and landowners are suing the county and Atlas Development LLC to void the rezoning of rural conservation land for a $17 billion hyperscale data center campus near Sargent Road. The suit says the county broke its own rules and Georgia rezoning law. Status, claims, and what it means for neighbors.
Zoning and land use · Violation of county procedural rules · Violation of state rezoning law
- Active litigationMissouri
Festus, Missouri: The Sunshine Law Lawsuit Over a $6 Billion Data Center
Wake Up JeffCo and four property owners filed a 12-count, 54-page lawsuit against the City of Festus and developer CRG over a $6 billion data center, alleging Missouri Sunshine Law violations including serial private briefings and a development agreement released the Friday before a Monday vote. The suit seeks to void the rezoning and the development contract.
Missouri Sunshine Law (open meetings and records) · Zoning and land use · Void the development agreement
- Active litigationTexas
The Granbury Noise Lawsuits: The Texas Cases Writing the Playbook for AI Data Center Noise Claims
Granbury, Texas residents, represented by Earthjustice, sued Marathon Digital Holdings in October 2024 over 24/7 fan noise from the bitcoin mine at the Wolf Hollow power plant, documenting migraines, tinnitus, and sleep loss. A separate federal complaint by nine Hood County property owners followed in May 2026, seeking more than $1 million. Both cases are pending, and together they are the precedent engine for AI data center noise litigation.
Private nuisance · Negligence · Intentional infliction of emotional distress
- Active litigationVirginia
Citizens for Fauquier County v. Town of Warrenton: The Three Year Fight Over Amazon's Warrenton Data Center
Citizens for Fauquier County and ten residents sued the Town of Warrenton in March 2023 over a 4-3 council approval of a 220,000 square foot Amazon data center, arguing the underlying 2021 zoning text amendment was improperly adopted and the permit is void. After a March 2026 trial and final arguments in June, the case awaits a ruling from Judge Stephen Sincavage.
Zoning and land use challenge · Improperly adopted zoning text amendment
- Regulatory fightOhio
The Ohio Data Center Electric Rate Fight: Who Pays for the Grid AI Is Demanding?
In July 2025, Ohio regulators ordered AEP Ohio to create a data center tariff requiring 25 MW+ customers to pay for at least 85 percent of their subscribed capacity for 12 years. The Ohio Manufacturers' Association appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court in November 2025, and a coalition including Amazon, Google, and Microsoft is challenging the tariff as discriminatory. There is no consumer class action; here is what the tariff protects residents from and how ratepayers can engage.
Utility rate allocation · Regulatory tariff challenge
- Active litigationWisconsin
The Port Washington Lawsuits: An Environmental Review Reversal and Closed-Door Negotiations Over the Vantage Data Center
Two linked lawsuits challenge the Vantage data center in Port Washington, Wisconsin: Sierra Club v. Wisconsin DNR, filed July 2026 over the agency's reversal on requiring a full environmental impact statement, and Great Lakes Neighbors United v. Port Washington Common Council, an open meetings suit over extended closed sessions negotiating the developer agreement. Both are pending.
Environmental review (EIS challenge) · Open meetings law
- SettledMichigan
Saline Township v. the $7 Billion Data Center: When the Developer Is the One Who Sues
Saline Township, Michigan denied rezoning for a $7 billion, 1.4 gigawatt OpenAI/Oracle data center campus in September 2025. Developer Related Digital and landowners sued the township for exclusionary zoning under the Michigan Constitution, and the township settled for roughly $14 million in community benefits. A resident's Open Meetings Act challenge to the settlement was denied in February 2026. The case is the clearest warning that developers sue too.
Exclusionary zoning (Michigan Constitution) · Open Meetings Act (resident intervention, denied)
- DismissedArizona
Project Blue in Pima County: The Open Meetings Suit Over a Data Center Tucson Rejected
After the Tucson City Council rejected the $3.6 billion Project Blue data center campus in August 2025, the Pima County Board of Supervisors approved a roughly 300 acre land sale for $20.875 million plus rezoning. Opponents sued the county in January 2026 alleging open meeting law violations, including an undisclosed rezoning purpose and land sale negotiations kept secret from 2023 to 2025. The Superior Court dismissed the case in April 2026; plaintiffs say they will appeal.
Open meeting law violations · Challenge to land sale and rezoning process
- DismissedAlabama
Bessemer's Project Marvel Lawsuit: How a Dismissed Case Still Forced a Do-Over
Homeowners near Rock Mountain Lake Road sued Bessemer, Alabama in April 2025 over the rezoning for Project Marvel, a $14.5 billion, 18-building data center campus. A TRO blocked the council vote, the city restarted the process, and the case was dismissed by joint stipulation on June 22, 2026. What the case won even in losing.
Arbitrary and capricious spot zoning · Disclosure of records reviewed by councilors · Zoning and land use
- SettledOregon
The Dalles v. The Oregonian: The Case That Made Google's Water Use Public
In 2021 the City of The Dalles, Oregon sued its own newspaper to keep Google's water use secret as a trade secret. The December 2022 settlement released ten years of records showing Google used about 29 percent of the city's water, paid the paper's legal fees, and ended Google's site-level water secrecy nationwide. Why this settled case still matters to every data center neighbor.
Public records law · Trade secret exemption claim
- Dispute, no suit filedVirginia
Great Oak v. the Hum: How Manassas Neighbors Beat Amazon Data Center Noise Without Filing a Lawsuit
Roughly 300 homes in the Great Oak neighborhood of Manassas, Virginia sit about 600 feet from AWS data centers that began generating constant mechanical noise in 2022. Residents documented likely exceedances of the county's 60 dB daytime ordinance, and sustained pressure plus county-backed noise studies produced Amazon engineering fixes that cut roughly 10 dB. No lawsuit was ever filed. What ordinance pressure can win, and when a lawsuit becomes the next step.
Local noise ordinance enforcement (no suit filed)
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