Billboards opposing the proposed Lowndes County data center are going up along major highways as organized resistance to Project Red Clay continues to grow.
The billboard campaign is the latest escalation in opposition to Project Red Clay, a proposed hyperscale data center development being pursued by Houston and Seattle-based Cloverleaf Infrastructure.
Protect Lowndes County, a residents group opposing the project, announced that it has placed billboards along I-85 southbound near the Chantilly exit in Montgomery, I-65 northbound leaving Lowndes County near the Fairview exit and U.S. Highway 80 entering Lowndes County.
“Our message is now on the highway,” the group said in announcing the campaign on Facebook.
The billboards direct motorists to ProtectLowndesCounty.org, where the organization is urging residents to oppose Project Red Clay and calling for greater public disclosure surrounding the proposed development.
“The Selma to Montgomery March passed through this land. People bled for the right to be heard here,” the group said. “Now an out-of-state developer wants to drop a hyperscale data center on top of it, and the folks who actually live here were the last to find out.”
Protect Lowndes County describes itself as a residents group seeking more transparency before county officials take action on the project. The organization is currently circulating a petition calling on the Lowndes County Commission to identify all entities and tenants involved, disclose water, energy and economic information and make project documents publicly available.
As Yellowhammer News previously reported, Cloverleaf has assembled more than 800 acres in northeastern Lowndes County for the project, which industry trackers have listed as a planned 1,500-megawatt development spanning nearly 3 million square feet.
The project has also drawn scrutiny because of its proximity to the Selma-to-Montgomery National Historic Trail. The proposed site sits roughly half a mile from a field where civil rights marchers camped during the 1965 voting rights march.
Cloverleaf is developing the site for an eventual owner or operator that has not been publicly identified. A formal tax-abatement request had not been filed as of Yellowhammer’s previous reporting, though county officials have discussed whether the project could qualify for an abatement lasting up to 30 years.
Protect Lowndes County is now encouraging motorists who see the new billboards to photograph and share them online as the group seeks to broaden awareness of the project.
Sawyer Knowles is a state and political reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].
