{
  "updated": "2026-10-15",
  "howto": "To add coverage: copy one item, put it at the TOP of 'items', fill in date (YYYY-MM-DD), display (as people read it), source, title (in our words, not the outlet's headline), note (one or two sentences, what the piece actually says), ours (optional, our one-line response), url, and tags from the list below. Then redeploy. Entries are added, never removed; a wrong entry gets a correction entry above it.",
  "tags": {
    "property": "This property",
    "water": "Water",
    "noise-light": "Noise, light & wildlife",
    "technology": "Technology",
    "missouri": "Missouri & the law",
    "research": "Research & data",
    "market": "Land & power"
  },
  "items": [
    {
      "date": "2026-10-14",
      "display": "14 Oct 2026",
      "source": "Data Center Knowledge / TechTarget",
      "title": "What is driving interest in land like this: power, and whether it can be delivered on time",
      "note": "A real-estate research firm counts about $6 billion of U.S. land bought for future data centers in the first half of 2026, up 79% in a year. Land near committed, high-capacity power trades at a steep premium: sites on 230 kV or 500 kV lines sold at roughly 2.4 times the price of sites on 138 kV or lower, and in low-cost markets land worth about $10,000 an acre can become worth six figures an acre once a power path exists. Developers plan on about half an acre to one acre per megawatt. A line crossing a property does not mean the utility can serve a load on schedule: a site counts as power-ready only when the electrical infrastructure can be delivered in roughly 18 months, with clarity on who funds and builds the substation, and utilities are asking developers for deposits and letters of credit before they will plan for a load.",
      "ours": "This is the honest explanation of why anyone is looking at this property, and we would rather you read it from the trade press than from us. Three things to take from it. The 161 kV line here sits between the article's two price tiers; it is not a 500 kV corridor and we have never described it as one. At half an acre to an acre per megawatt, the 2–4 MW first phase in section 03 is two to four acres and the possible 26 MW phase is 13 to 26 of the 226 acres, consistent with the six-acre figure in section 02. And by the article's own test this property is not power-ready today: nothing has been studied or filed with any utility, and no one has said when, or whether, a load could be served. Yes, land with a power path is worth more than land without one. Mr. McCullough would be paid for that, and we would be paid on the sale. We have said so on every page.",
      "url": "https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/data-center-construction/ai-data-center-land-buying-hits-6b-as-power-premiums-rise",
      "tags": [
        "market",
        "property"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-10-13",
      "display": "13 Oct 2026",
      "source": "KRCU (NPR, Cape Girardeau)",
      "title": "Statewide: residents question data centers' water and energy use as projects spread",
      "note": "Thirteen active projects across Missouri, including one in Festus that residents have sued to stop. The head of the Southeast Missouri economic development group says early designs raised real water concerns but the industry has since shifted toward designs that recycle water.",
      "ours": "Thirteen projects, none of them here. The shift he describes is real at the design level (see the strip above) and still has to be written into a contract before it means anything for a particular site.",
      "url": "https://www.krcu.org/news/2026-10-13/mo-residents-raise-concerns-over-data-center-resource-usage",
      "tags": [
        "missouri",
        "water"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-10-07",
      "display": "7 Oct 2026",
      "source": "West Plains Daily Quill",
      "title": "Commissioner Parker is bringing a 30-page draft ordinance to the commission",
      "note": "The draft would regulate \"industrial technology facilities\" with enforceable limits on noise, light spill and electromagnetic fields and with aquifer protections, written with counsel to stay inside what a third-class county is allowed to do. All three commissioners issued a joint statement. The online petition passed 1,500 signatures. The article records that our firm is paid on a sale and is not neutral, and that Mr. McCullough favors written standards.",
      "ours": "This is the process section 06 says we support. The commissioner also drew the line we drew in section 07: the commission does not control water withdrawal or who the utilities serve.",
      "url": "https://www.westplainsdailyquill.net/stories/proposed-data-center-sparks-oregon-co-debate,230160",
      "tags": [
        "property",
        "missouri"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-10-06",
      "display": "6 Oct 2026",
      "source": "DatacenterDynamics (sponsored by Schneider Electric)",
      "title": "An equipment maker on where cooling design is going",
      "note": "Sealed liquid loops that take heat straight off the chip, and higher coolant temperatures, mean more hours a year running without evaporation or chillers. The company says water use for the newest AI halls can be cut sharply and, if an operator chooses, avoided almost entirely in exchange for more electricity.",
      "ours": "Vendor commentary, and we label it as such. It is useful for one thing: it shows the water-versus-electricity trade is a choice a buyer makes on paper, before the first footing is poured.",
      "url": "https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/marketwatch/driving-efficient-water-usage-through-closed-loop-cooling/",
      "tags": [
        "technology",
        "water"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-10-04",
      "display": "4 Oct 2026",
      "source": "KY3 / KAIT / KFVS (Gray TV)",
      "title": "Protest in Mammoth Spring, Arkansas, against a data center on this property",
      "note": "A Saturday protest across the state line. The organizer's concern was water drawn near Mammoth Spring State Park during a drought. Two Alton business owners said they want taxes on any developer set as high as possible and pollution rules strict enough to keep developers away. A neighbor who farms near the property cited noise (she used a 105-decibel figure), water, and fewer than ten permanent jobs.",
      "ours": "The jobs point is ours and it is in writing: dozens at most, probably fewer (question 04). Nobody has proposed drawing water from Mammoth Spring or any spring; the property is on the Warm Fork in Missouri, and no design exists to draw from anything. The 105-decibel figure did not come from us or from any buyer. The number that will matter is the one written into the ordinance and the deed and measured at the property line (section 06).",
      "url": "https://www.ky3.com/2026/10/05/residents-arkansas-missouri-unite-against-proposed-oregon-county-data-center/",
      "tags": [
        "property",
        "water",
        "noise-light"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-09-24",
      "display": "24 Sept 2026",
      "source": "Data Center Knowledge",
      "title": "Low-frequency noise and data centers: where it comes from and what reduces it",
      "note": "A trade-press explainer on the part of the noise question that ordinances usually miss. The low hum neighbors describe comes mainly from cooling-tower and large axial fans and from standby generators during tests and outages; server fans are a secondary source. Very low frequencies travel through the ground and through building structures, and how far they carry outdoors depends on wind and weather. What reduces it: larger fans at lower speeds, vibration isolation, sealed enclosures and silencers on generators, generator testing in daytime with battery storage to cut runtime, and liquid cooling with the pumps isolated. The article notes that most ordinances regulate audible sound only, and that residents' health claims about infrasound have not been fully validated because measuring it takes specialised equipment.",
      "ours": "The article cites no decibel figures, and we are not going to add one; the 105-decibel number quoted at the Mammoth Spring protest did not come from us or from any buyer. What this piece shows is that the ordinance should set its limit by octave band, not just overall loudness, and should cover generator testing hours. We will ask for exactly that (section 06, noise limits).",
      "url": "https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/data-center-construction/low-frequency-noise-and-data-centers-what-to-know",
      "tags": [
        "noise-light",
        "technology"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-09-18",
      "display": "18 Sept 2026",
      "source": "AltonMo.com",
      "title": "Local recap of the September 17 town hall",
      "note": "Nothing in contract, no offers, no buyer. Commissioner Parker said the county has no ordinance, that state and federal policy currently favor data centers, and that county policies are being drafted for the spring ballot. A public information website was promised.",
      "ours": "This is that website.",
      "url": "https://www.altonmo.com/community/thayer-town-hall-discusses-infrastructure-and-data-center-20260918",
      "tags": [
        "property"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-09-17",
      "display": "17 Sept 2026",
      "source": "AltonMo.com",
      "title": "Commissioner Parker's statement: nothing is in motion",
      "note": "The commissioner said no plans or contacts had been made with county officials, that nothing had been planned, and that the land is simply being marketed by its owner for the possibility. The property sits outside any city limits.",
      "ours": "Accurate then and accurate now.",
      "url": "https://www.altonmo.com/community/commissioner-calms-fears-over-rumored-ai-data-center-20260917",
      "tags": [
        "property"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-09-04",
      "display": "4 Sept 2026",
      "source": "NC State University, College of Natural Resources",
      "title": "A hydrologist's explainer on data centers and local water",
      "note": "Large sites can use millions of gallons a day, mostly from municipal systems, aquifers and nearby surface water. The water used upstream to generate a site's electricity and to make its chips is often larger than what the building itself uses.",
      "url": "https://cnr.ncsu.edu/news/2026/09/data-center-boom-water-resources/",
      "tags": [
        "water",
        "research"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-08-17",
      "display": "Aug 2026",
      "source": "Sensorex (engineering explainer)",
      "title": "\"Closed loop\" does not automatically mean \"no water\"",
      "note": "A sealed loop inside the building can still reject its heat outside through evaporative towers, which consume water. The loop is only water-free when the heat is rejected without evaporation, through dry coolers or air-cooled chillers, which cost more electricity in hot weather.",
      "ours": "This is the distinction in our answer to question 01, from an engineering source rather than from us. Ask any buyer which side of that line their design sits on.",
      "url": "https://sensorex.com/closed-loop-vs-evaporative-cooling-data-centers/",
      "tags": [
        "technology",
        "water"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-07-31",
      "display": "31 Jul 2026",
      "source": "Congressional Research Service",
      "title": "Data Centers and Water: Frequently Asked Questions (R49057)",
      "note": "The research arm of Congress, writing for members. Most direct use is cooling; totals are hard to pin down because few operators disclose site figures; discharges can raise water-quality questions. On Missouri specifically: the state regulates water quality but not the amount a user withdraws, beyond exports out of state and annual reports from major users.",
      "ours": "This is one of the two sources behind our 14 October correction to section 07.",
      "url": "https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R49057/R49057.1.pdf",
      "tags": [
        "water",
        "missouri",
        "research"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-07-01",
      "display": "1 Jul 2026",
      "source": "KCUR (NPR, Kansas City)",
      "title": "Missouri's 2026 session passed 100 bills and none on data centers",
      "note": "The bills that would have set water and electricity requirements never got a hearing. Towns and counties are writing their own moratoriums and restrictions instead, and sponsors expect another try next session.",
      "ours": "Which is why the county ordinance, not Jefferson City, is the decision that matters here.",
      "url": "https://www.kcur.org/housing-development-section/2026-07-01/missouri-data-center-rules-water-energy-legislature",
      "tags": [
        "missouri"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-06-24",
      "display": "24 Jun 2026",
      "source": "KSDK (St. Louis)",
      "title": "Amazon's Montgomery County campus: 50 million gallons a year",
      "note": "Planners expect the hyperscale campus off Interstate 70 to draw about 50 million gallons a year for cooling. Neighbors on private wells asked about the aquifer and about diesel generator noise.",
      "ours": "For scale, 50 million gallons a year is roughly 137,000 gallons a day, from a campus described as a ten-billion-dollar project. Section 03 explains why what is contemplated here is a small fraction of that, and why we still will not quote a water number for this site.",
      "url": "https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/local/amazon-data-center-water-usage-worries-missouri-neighbors/63-6b2b7de7-64d0-43e0-b6a9-792470b3e59c",
      "tags": [
        "missouri",
        "water",
        "noise-light"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-06-04",
      "display": "Jun 2026",
      "source": "Tom's Hardware",
      "title": "Microsoft's chief executive: new AI sites use about as much water a year as a restaurant",
      "note": "At the company's Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin campus more than 90 percent of the cooling runs on a sealed loop that is filled once. The company has not announced a programme to retrofit its older sites.",
      "ours": "A claim by the operator, about its own newest buildings. The honest version for an older or cheaper design is still millions of gallons.",
      "url": "https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/big-tech/microsoft-ceo-says-new-ai-data-centers-use-as-little-water-annually-as-a-restaurant-closed-loop-cooling-system-aims-to-slash-consumption-from-millions-of-gallons-as-ai-infrastructure-faces-mounting-environmental-scrutiny",
      "tags": [
        "technology",
        "water"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-04-08",
      "display": "Apr 2026",
      "source": "MOST Policy Initiative (Missouri science policy nonprofit)",
      "title": "Science note for Missouri legislators on data center water use",
      "note": "Google reported withdrawing 7.8 billion gallons across its data centers in 2024 and consuming 78 percent of it through evaporation. Its largest site, in Council Bluffs, Iowa, withdrew about 3.9 million gallons a day. Discharged cooling water can affect drinking water, crops and aquatic life.",
      "ours": "Evaporative cooling at hyperscale, measured. That is the design our commitments are written to rule out here.",
      "url": "https://mostpolicyinitiative.org/science-note/data-center-water-use/",
      "tags": [
        "water",
        "missouri",
        "research"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-02-26",
      "display": "26 Feb 2026",
      "source": "St. Louis Public Radio",
      "title": "House bills filed to set water and power requirements for data centers",
      "note": "Three representatives introduced legislation to regulate electricity and water use by data centers, saying the aim was to keep ratepayers from price shocks. St. Charles' planning commission delayed a vote on a proposed ban the same month.",
      "url": "https://www.stlpr.org/government-politics-issues/2026-02-26/missouri-lawmakers-propose-water-power-usage-requirements-data-centers",
      "tags": [
        "missouri"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-02-09",
      "display": "9 Feb 2026",
      "source": "Oracle",
      "title": "Direct-to-chip, closed-loop, non-evaporative cooling at Oracle's new AI sites",
      "note": "At its new AI data centers in New Mexico, Michigan, Texas and Wisconsin the cooling loop is filled once from tanker trucks and then runs sealed. The company says ongoing community water use for cooling is effectively zero.",
      "ours": "A company statement about its own buildings, not a measurement by anyone else. That is exactly the kind of claim a deed covenant turns into a meter someone local can read.",
      "url": "https://www.oracle.com/news/announcement/blog/closed-loop-cooling-in-oracle-ai-data-centers-2026-02-09/",
      "tags": [
        "technology",
        "water"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2024-12-09",
      "display": "9 Dec 2024",
      "source": "Microsoft",
      "title": "Microsoft's design standard since August 2024: zero water consumed for cooling",
      "note": "All new Microsoft data center designs use chip-level cooling in a closed loop that is filled during construction and then recirculates. The company says this avoids more than 125 million liters, about 33 million gallons, a year per data center. Water is still used for restrooms and kitchens. A Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin site pilots the design in 2026.",
      "ours": "This is the report we said in question 01 we were checking. It checks out as a published design standard. It is not a claim about this property, where there is no buyer and no design.",
      "url": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-cloud/blog/2024/12/09/sustainable-by-design-next-generation-datacenters-consume-zero-water-for-cooling/",
      "tags": [
        "technology",
        "water"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2024-12-01",
      "display": "Dec 2024",
      "source": "Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (U.S. Department of Energy)",
      "title": "2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report",
      "note": "The national baseline. U.S. data centers directly consumed about 17 billion gallons of water for cooling in 2023 and roughly 211 billion gallons indirectly through the electricity they used. Direct use could double or quadruple by 2028.",
      "ours": "The figures everyone else cites come from here. They describe the whole country; they say nothing about 226 acres on Route 142.",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.71468/P1WC7Q",
      "tags": [
        "research",
        "water"
      ]
    }
  ]
}