Data Centers Have a New Adversary: Tigers and Leopards at a Zoo

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(Bloomberg) — A proposal for a data center in Nashville is facing off against the leopards and tigers of the city’s zoo.  

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The Nashville Zoo launched a petition this week calling for the community to push back against a proposed data center from DC Blox, a digital infrastructure provider in the Southeast. The site for the 69,000-square-foot structure is located next to the animal sanctuary, sparking concerns about environmental damage. 

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The petition, which is asking for city leaders to intervene to stop the plan, had more than 140,000 signatures as of Friday. 

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“AI data centers are being built at an alarming pace, posing possible risks to diverse and vulnerable communities,” the petition on Change.org said. “The next one could be located just feet away from one of the most fragile and rare collections of animals in the country unless Nashville Zoo supporters and city leaders intervene.” 

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The zoo is home to over 3,700 animals representing more than 350 different species, including clouded leopards, Andean bears and Sumatran tigers. 

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Community residents across the country are mounting opposition to the onslaught of data center construction, with key worries including noise, air quality and how the power-hungry facilities could drive up the cost of their electricity bills. Seven in 10 Americans are against the construction of an AI data center in their area, with 48% strongly opposed, according to a recent Gallup poll. 

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A spokesperson for the zoo said in a statement that the response to the petition was incredible.

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“The proximity of the DC Blox data center to the habitats of the animals in our care, including clouded leopards, our signature conservation species, is especially concerning,” the statement said.

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DC Blox has built data centers in sites across Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina. The company earlier this year secured $240 million in financing from Global Infrastructure Partners, a part of BlackRock.

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A spokesperson for the company said in an emailed statement that “the proposed DC BLOX data center will not be an AI factory placing a burden on local resources.” DC Blox looks forward to working with the community to minimize the impact of the facility, according to the statement.

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“We commit to using closed-loop or waterless cooling designs to minimize ongoing water use,” the statement said. “We commit to the local utility to pay for all power used as well as any new energy infrastructure required to support our project. And we commit to maintaining and testing noise levels to measurable and acceptable levels and adhering to all federal and local environmental requirements.”