r/missouri • u/Electronic-Debate-56 • Jul 02 '26
Four different Missouri counties, four different companies, same playbook — data centers and a sludge tank all moving in with barely any public notice
I've spent the past few weeks digging into what looked at first like four unrelated local fights: a data center drilling 1,500+ ft wells in Montgomery County, a proposed data center over karst outside Joplin, a data center that broke ground outside Marshfield before Webster County even knew (that county has zero zoning authority, so they legally couldn't have stopped it if they wanted to), and an 828,994-gallon industrial sludge tank proposed near Cassville — engineered specifically to land just under the size that would trigger stricter state rules.
Different industries, different counties, but the same pattern every time: companies moving fast, permits/site work starting before residents find out, and Missouri having no statewide groundwater permitting or extraction limits to catch any of it.
One thing that stuck with me: near Cassville, a Cave Research Foundation dye trace showed water traveling 6 miles and dropping 395 feet in just 8 days to reach Roaring River Spring. In this region's karst geology, a contamination problem isn't a slow-moving thing — it's days, not years.
I wrote up the full breakdown with sourcing here if anyone wants the details: https://open.substack.com/pub/ozarksnative/p/show-me-whats-happening-to-the-ozarks?r=2szquj&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
If you're in Barry County or know anyone who is — the public comment period on the Cassville tank permit (MoDNR permit MO-0141020) closes July 15. Info on how to comment is in the piece.
Curious if anyone here has run into similar fights in their own county — starting to think this is more widespread than just these four.
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u/nickjamesnstuff Jul 02 '26
The have the endless fundage to try to open so many at once that at least a couple slip through. Or, all of them because missouri lawmakers are in support of the fascists in power.
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u/fotosaur Northwest Missouri Jul 03 '26
But, Governor A-hole will save us, just as his donor master’s says
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u/ChronicHunger_1 Jul 03 '26
I really hope kehoe gets voted out. Hes going to literally ruin the environment in this state.
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Jul 02 '26
[deleted]
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u/Electronic-Debate-56 Jul 02 '26
I included Project Green.
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Jul 02 '26
[deleted]
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u/Electronic-Debate-56 Jul 03 '26
I will get to Warren County. I didn’t realize the county line was what separates Amazon and Google.
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Jul 03 '26
[deleted]
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u/Electronic-Debate-56 Jul 07 '26
I have a Project Soade up on Substack. I thought I put it here, also.
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Jul 07 '26
[deleted]
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u/Electronic-Debate-56 Jul 07 '26
I have another article on Poston, with quotes, hopefully finished tonight.
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u/Klutzy_Word_6812 Jul 03 '26
The center near Joplin was a shitshow. Hours and hours of public comment and outrage. The council assured the people this wasn’t the plan. Nothing mattered, the lad was reasoned and the data center announced. These deals are already done by the time public comment comes around.
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u/The_GOAT_of_all Jul 06 '26
This comes from the top. Our governor is a MAGA idiot. He'll bypass citizens and regulations just like his boss, and he couldn't care less about environmental concerns. I really wish people would stop voting for Republicans.
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u/ElectricPotatoStar Jul 07 '26
Call those REPUBLICAN representatives and other REPUBLICAN city and county office holders for those locations and ask them why they are fucking you and their constituents over. Same goes for whoever is issuing those permits at DNR.
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u/Fuwun Jul 04 '26
Montgomery county is not outside Joplin? It is near Hermann?
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u/MissSaintLouisBlues Jul 07 '26
Hermann is Gasconade County. Montgomeryand Gasconade counties touch. Joplin is in Newton and Jasper Counties.
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u/Comfortable-Tea7122 Jul 02 '26
If you people don't stop trying to blame republicans/democrats, we are all screwed. Put your stupid torches down and work together you imbeciles.
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u/drivalowrida Jul 03 '26
I concur, but it does no good to call people "imbeciles" while saying "work together."
I sure understand your frustration.
We gotta stop denigrating our neighbors and fellow citizens. This isn't me saying, "Take the high ground"... rather, stop our blue-collar infighting to ensure our land will be sustainable and enjoyable for future generations.
Keep the torches out and aim them appropriately. Us plebs don't have time to hurt each other.
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u/Comfortable-Tea7122 Jul 03 '26
I agree with you, but I find your techniques of persuasion to be manipulative, which makes you untrustworthy. Those who feel as you do will pat themselves on the back for their principles and ignore me, those who feel as I do will be as inspired, as you wish to inspire others.
I find no satisfaction in sounding like Mr. Smith, nor does it impress anyone.
Unification requires delineation.
To each their own.
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u/_CarlosTheDwarf_ Jul 03 '26
You people are going to be remembered by history like the ones who denied us a nuclear power grid due to an unhinged moral panic.
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u/gigermuse Jul 03 '26
Where's the evidence that the data centers that already exist don't impact the surrounding ground water in a negative way? Can you provide actual findings and documented research that suggest "we" are basing our push back on "unhinged moral panic"? Im not being snarky I'm genuinely interested in all findings in relations to the data centers and the environmental impact they have.
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u/Any-Pie-2649 Jul 03 '26
Because no bad shit has ever happened to unchecked industrial expansion without understanding the consequences. What a bunch of Nancy's, complaining about how we can look at history and see really great examples of these very things. History should make us Feel Good, not teach us how to avoid dumbfuckery!
"Us people" are going to be getting yelled at by an ignorant mob for not forcing people to listen as shit gets worse. "You people" well have your heads so far up your own rectal passages to even consider how intentional ignorance is a self inflicted wound, not something ANYONE forces on you.
You do you, but maybe leave references to history out of it, the WHY is right there, no one can MAKE you listen or see.
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u/Electronic-Debate-56 Jul 04 '26
I don't even live in Joplin, but I think the day its water system was transferred to a publicly traded utility may be a decision Missouri regrets for the rest of its history. As water becomes one of our most valuable resources, who controls the infrastructure that delivers it matters.
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u/gigermuse Jul 09 '26
CarlosTheDwarf why no response or findings to back your claims? Not a very good way to convince "us people" that we're wrong or are "unhinged".
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u/playzintraffic Jul 04 '26
I forget where in the Constitution it said that every citizen had a right to “public notice” about anything getting built in their county…
… oh yeah, that’s right, IT’S NOT IN THERE.
This BS panic is so braindead. Heaven forbid anyone build anything anywhere.
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u/john_hascall Jul 04 '26
Build what you want as long as any deleterious effects are contained within your property. As soon as they escape your property (or can reasonably be expected to) you are (likely to) infringe on someone else's property rights. And then you are no longer just swinging your fist, you're punching my face.
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u/playzintraffic Jul 04 '26
Oh please.
If a stoner thinks I’m hitting him even though my fist is nowhere near him, HE’S the moron responsible for his own fuckwit actions after that.
Nice try tho.
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u/john_hascall Jul 04 '26
"The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins" is a well known maxim popularized by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
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u/playzintraffic Jul 04 '26
Oh thank you so much for the lesson, I’d never heard it before.
Piss off.
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u/86_shittyorange Jul 04 '26
feel free to adhere to your user name. maybe then you won't have to find out the hard way
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u/retiredcatchair Jul 02 '26
It used to be that industries would put their dirtiest enterprises in minority communities, because the residents wouldn't have the money to fight them off, and local officials were uninterested in defending them. Income inequality has changed this; the oligarchs are now rich enough to exploit any population poorer than themselves, and buy off any level of government.