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According to the Washtenaw County Website, "data centers are proliferating across the country and data center developers are increasingly interested in Michigan as a destination for future data center sites. As of September 2025, three local units of government (Augusta Township, Saline Township, and Ypsilanti Township) in Washtenaw County had data centers brought before their decision-making bodies for review or approval." While in Ypsilanti, the joint UM-Los Alamos center has been delayed through a 12 Month Moratorium, in other areas (i.e. Augusta-Thor Equities and Saline-Related Digital), construction and zoning are respectively under way.
The ecosystems of the Huron Valley exist in a tenuous, ongoing relationship with human civilization (in 2022, the Middle Huron River Watershed Management Plan recognized 11 species as endangered in Washtenaw County), and while these data centers encompass a looming threat to the valley’s waterways and ecosystems, it is merely the most recent episode in a fight that has been waged over the last fifty plus years to protect and preserve the valley from climate change, pollution, and habitat destruction.
This fight for environmental justice has been waged by student activists, researchers, elected officials, and other community members for decades, and this history of resistance has left a substantial archival footprint in its wake. This archive weaves together half a century of student environmental activism in the Huron Valley, charting past research output, protest movements, and organizational documentation to raise awareness and generate interest in the present movement as the rising tide of AI foments future resistance.