RANGE reporter Aaron Hedge joins Val to discuss a proposed AI data center in Airway Heights, and then housing development and conservation efforts in Latah Valley along Highway 195.

Articles discussed in this episode:

https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-residents-mobilize-as-data-centers-eye-region/

https://thorpe.rangemedia.co/

https://www.rangemedia.co/fire-evacuees-face-gridlock/

This is Free Range, a co-production

of KYRS and Range Media.

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I'm Valerie Ozier, editor at our

local workaround news outlet,

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Range Media, aforementioned.

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And I'm here with one of our reporters,

Aaron Hedge, who specializes in

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environmental news and Christian

nationalism news and fun facts

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about Christian nationalism.

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So today we're- How's everybody doing?

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Yeah.

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So today we are talking about one

of those things environmental stuff.

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So it might seem like Spokane and even the

county is safe from data centers for now,

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at least with the m- moratoriums in place.

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But what about the other

nearby cities and towns?

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Hedge has been following data

center talks in Airway Heights

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and is gonna give us the rundown.

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I truly do not know exactly what is

happening over there, so this is gonna

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be a fresh conversation for all of us.

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Yeah, thanks for that and then after

that we'll have a quick break, and then

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we'll talk about the development of more

than 1,000 homes in Latah Valley along

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the 195 highway, and how residents are

worried about its infrastructure being

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able to handle large scale emergencies

like the recent Spokane complex fires.

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Tucked in that story is news on

conservation efforts in Latah Valley

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in an area that m- might be saved

with a land transfer and legislative

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funding if the legislature grants it.

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So let's jump into it, Hedge.

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About data centers, I don't know exactly.

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I'm kinda confused about why

Airway Heights is talking about

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Data centers because Spokane

County just started a moratorium.

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Obviously they still need to talk

about these things 'cause, they're

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working on what's it called?

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The- Comprehensive planning and-

Planning around it and stuff like that.

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Yeah.

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But I'm curious, like what are these

talks happening in Airway Heights?

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There's nothing there's not

right now at this moment- Okay

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a data center being, like- … constructed

or built in, on the West Plains.

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They're in early level talks

with one specific developer.

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And it's, this is only one of the da- one

of the at least three data centers that

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are being considered right now across-

Okay … all of- … like Spokane County.

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Okay.

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And other parts of Eastern Washington.

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The, the third one is not totally

clear exactly where it would

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be, so it's not clear whether it

would be in the county or not.

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And then there's potentially a fourth one.

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And- And we can break

those down if we need to.

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But, Really quick, when you say there's

three data centers being considered

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and maybe four s- considered for in

the Spokane County area do you mean

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that there are three to four separate

companies that are trying to bring

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data centers here, or that one or

two companies are trying to find a

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spot for three or four data centers?

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You know what I mean?

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We know that there are at least three

separate companies- Okay … that are

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trying to construct hyperscale data

centers in- Okay … Spokane County.

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The fourth one does not have, as far as

I can tell, it doesn't have a potential

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person who wants to build it because

it's part of a development project

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that's in the earliest stages of works.

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Got it.

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Okay.

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And that's a big rabbit hole.

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We can get there if

we- … if we have the time.

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But why Airway Heights is important

right now is the largest of these

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four data ce- data centers will

be located either in Airway Hei-

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Airway Heights or in Medical Lake.

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Okay.

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And a person who filed a bunch of

re- records requests, just a local

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resident- her name's Brittany Anderson.

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She was actually on this show a couple of

weeks ago- Oh, yes … talking with me.

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She has been receiving a lot of

documents back that she requested

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from various governments,

including state level governments.

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And she discovered that there was

a meeting between the data center

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developer that County Commissioner

Al French has been in talk w-

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in talks with for m- months now.

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It's called- … Apricus Energy Partners.

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It's based in Arizona.

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It's- It's a little bit

of a cipher of a company.

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It's, it markets itself as like a,

a hydro like a hydro fuel producer.

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They wanna make different,

like, types of hydro fuel.

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That's their kind of

main- What is hydro fuel?

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Sorry.

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It's like combustible fuel that

you can use for your car that is

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manufactured with water and doesn't

have the same emissions as- Huh … gas

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does, like normal petroleum.

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So they're, like, really

specialized in burning water.

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It sounds like, I don't know.

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So the hy- the hydro project is

separate from the data center project.

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Yeah.

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It's, it's- No, but this company

seems very intent on- … boiling

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water, combusting water.

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I don't know.

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I'm not…

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I'm try- I'm trying to brush up

on that so I can- Yeah … write

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intelligently about it in the future.

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No, for sure.

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'Cause I think it's a big question.

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Disclaimer, neither of us actually know

how hydro fuel works or I'm ma- I'm

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mainly focused on data centers- yeah

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which is a, it's a

different type of project.

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The reason they're together- … in

this instance is as part of this

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hydro power plant that this company

wants to build, there's not really a

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good like funding mechanism for it.

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There's not a lot of investors that

wanna put a, that wanna shovel a lot

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of money toward hydro fuel, right?

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Companies are- Thomas is giving me

permission to Google hydro fuel.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Do, do it.

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And I need to really- … get note up

on that 'cause I think that's another

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story that hasn't been explored, what is

this hydro power facility going to be.

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Oh … but for now, most people are

focused on the data centers because

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data centers- if you take one glance at

the news every day, you know that data

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centers are at the top of just like

political issues across the country.

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Many races for the US Congress are

being right now, they're either being

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won or lost with data centers at the

centen- at the center of it, and there's

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polling that shows that about 70% of

Americans either oppose data center

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development near their homes, or they

they want the government to be a lot

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more proactive in regulating them.

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And that's what the moratoria are for.

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The, and moratoriums are just like,

they're pauses in like permit application

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approvals by a government that

lasts, like a certain period of time.

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So the Spokane coun- or the Spokane,

the City of Spokane a couple months

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ago instituted a year-long moratorium

wh- where they will not approve any

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data center applications for that year.

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And that, the idea is that gives them,

months to plan good regulations- … that

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will be meaningful for for data centers

operating in within the city limits.

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That moratorium only covered the city.

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And it soon became clear after

they instituted their moratorium

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that Commissioner French had been

in talks with this developer.

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He didn't tell anybody about

it- … and he didn't even tell his

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colleagues on the county commission.

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They were blindsided by it.

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He had worked a little bit with

Commissioner Josh Kearns, who like

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helped him develop like some kind of

like a, a blueprint for regulations.

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And they presented that at the same

meeting where the two kind of liberal

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county commissioners, Amber Waldref

and Chris Jordan proposed their own

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nine-month moratorium that would

have it would've stopped data center

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a-approvals for that nine months.

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Kearns, French, and the chair Commissioner

Mary Brooks, were against the moratorium.

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And so there was no way that

moratorium was gonna pass.

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And so they kicked it off down

the road, and they they had a

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break right after that meeting.

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They didn't meet for several weeks.

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So during that time, the, the county

legal and planning staff put together

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a proposal for a shorter moratorium, a

four-month moratorium- … that would

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expire I think it expires December 15th.

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And same thing that the

city is trying to do.

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They're trying to develop

regulations for new data centers.

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They've been…

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And I've written a lot,

a, a good bit about this.

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They've been roundly criticized

by a, a smallish but in- a growing

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group of very loud activists who

are, like, trying to oppose this.

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And they inform themselves

through Brittany Anderson's

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public records requests.

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Okay … the reason…

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So that was, like, a big … That

was a really long windup.

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Unless you have a clarifying

question before I- Oh, no.

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Real quick, I just wanted to clarify.

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Do you mean hydrogen fuel or

hy- or is it hydrogen fuel?

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It's fuel derived from water.

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That's all I know.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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I think that's called…

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I think that is hydrogen fuel.

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Yeah.

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So I just wanted to correct

myself No, that's it.

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Yeah … 'cause I googled it,

and according to energy.gov

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hydrogen is a fuel that, when consumed by

a, in a fuel cell, produces only water.

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It is, There's a lot of seen as a

lot of a green fuel option in that it

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only has water vapor as its emission.

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So instead of a cloud of smoke, you see a

mist, basically- and it's, … that comes

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out of the tailpipe … and it's basically

made by separating the water molecules

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separating the oxygen and hydrogen

through a process called electrolysis.

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There is…

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It appears that it's,

does take a lot of energy.

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This is super cursory research

from my end, just everybody.

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But, and then- Yeah, I think

it's be- I think I need to go out

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and report this stuff out.

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Yeah.

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But it's good to know what this is about.

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You'll learn more about this stuff.

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Yeah.

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But yeah.

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So there's different things about that.

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So we were talking about hydrogen

fuel, but it still does use

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water, which is interesting.

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And it's interesting if it produce…

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I don't know, 'cause we don't know

how these data centers are l- like,

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gonna be run at all 'cause there's

no information about it, right?

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The hy- the hydro the

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hydrogen fuel p- operation would not

be- Yeah, that's like a separate thing

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it wouldn't pr- it wouldn't be

entirely environmentally friendly.

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Yeah.

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But I think it's, I think it's probably

the, the facility itself- … seems like

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like a faded backstory to the data center.

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'Cause that was that was in the works.

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The hydrogen- Yeah … plant was in the

works long before the data center was.

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And- The reason they need a data

center is because a data center

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right now- … if you use Google-

Yeah … at any point during a

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day- … you're using a data center.

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Yes.

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Your query goes out into, And this-

… into the, what seems like the ether,

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but that information that you send

out- … is stored in a physical place.

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It gets stored on servers that,

that are in these big kinda like

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racks that look a little bit like

ref- like New Age refrigerators.

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And they're just full of,

like- … computing equipment.

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Lots of- And to be clear, you mean

Google in general, like the old, the

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old school Google search engine and

the Google AI search thing now, right?

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Because there is a data centers

have been around for a while.

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They're not a new thing.

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No.

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We- No, we need them.

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Yeah.

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The internet the the internet would

not be what it was, what it is without-

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Yeah … that storage capacity.

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Your cloud storage- … is a da-

in, it's a data center somewhere.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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It's not…

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your information just doesn't actually

go live in- Yeah … the cloud.

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In, it's in a physical place that's-

Yeah … occupying space on this

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green Earth that we- Yeah … inhabit.

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And yes, old, the Google search

engine of five years ago was

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also using a data center.

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But also, if you're using Google

Gemini or any AI product, it is also

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using a data center essentially.

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Yeah.

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But also, the whole internet

is using a data center.

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The reason the data center conversation-

… is at such an inflection point is

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because of this, these exponential

advancements- in AI technology moving

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toward what people call, wanna call

artificial gen- general intelligence.

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Which means it can just

basically, it can learn by itself.

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It can- I see … it can be, it

can basically sustain itself by

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itself- … without any help from humans.

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Okay.

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Good things, bad things about-

that technology, and that's

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obviously another discussion.

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A lot of the folks that are opposed to

data centers are, like, very up in arms

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about the, the movements toward AI.

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And most of them aren't worried about

a- … anybody's familiar with the

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Terminator series- … that started in

the '80s with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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Like- … nobody's really worried about

that at this point in time anyway.

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It's just it's…

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there's a lot more concerns about how

it's going, like what kind of economic

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impacts it's gonna have on the country.

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A big discussion around

losses of creative jobs.

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Things like hospital diagnostics- like

that kind of stuff that a machine could do

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that a human does at a much slower rate.

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Yeah.

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And and it's also the environmental

concerns of data centers or

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at least AI data centers that

use more power or, it's- Yeah.

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So because- … a big concern.

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… because AI AI allows people, I think

in contrast to a Google search- it

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allows you to make and create things

at just, at a rate that just was not

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even I think conceived of- … by

just average folks, a decade ago.

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Yeah.

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There were people who were like predicting

where it's going, and they've largely been

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proved accurate in s- in a lot of ways.

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… But it's just it's a,

it's this really, like-

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The, the pace of the advancement in

this technology is pretty breathtaking.

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Yeah.

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I don't think there's really a way to

downplay w- how big of a deal it is.

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Because it generates so much more

information so much more quickly,

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you need a lot more server space.

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And developers are creating

these massive data centers.

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There's one that I always refer to.

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Meta, the company Meta, th- which owns

Facebook- … is constructing a, a, a

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data center in, South of New Orleans

that would c- it would consume as much

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energy as the entire city of New Orleans

Oh, wow or it will once it's completed.

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And it's it's pretty much a fait accompli.

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Like it- it's, like I've

seen pictures of it.

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It's like in various stages of actual

construction Oh, okay People in the

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area didn't know about this development-

… until the New York Times went in and they

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found, they discovered that Meta had been

just like behind the scenes working their

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lobbyists to rejigger state regulations

that were going into place regarding

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artificial intelligence and data centers

and got them to basically like grease the

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skids- for the most favorable version of

that regulation so that they could get

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this s- this one single project, Wow.

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How long were they working on that for?

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Do you know?

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I don't know, but a, a development

like that takes a very, very

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long time- Like a decade, right?

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Like- Yeah.

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To go through all of the

permitting processes.

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Yeah And I don't know

this particular project.

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I'm not sure exactly how long they

were work- were working on that, but

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it's a very big long-term project.

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And a lot of these projects are being

constructed or the like the permits and

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the legal like parts of it are being

like brokered with people in powerful

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places without people knowing about it.

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So you can imagine just like living

next to a data center site and

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all of a sudden there's this like

monstrosity in your backyard- … that

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you didn't know was gonna happen.

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And I think it's just there's this

activist, Erin Brockovich- … who

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kicked off her career by exposing

like toxic chemicals- in in small

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towns in s- in California, is now

doing activism, like opposing the

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construction- … of data centers.

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And she says "If data cen- if data

centers are so great, why are you

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doing all of the legwork in secret

without the public knowing about it?"

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Wouldn't there be a pitch to them?

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And that's like- … I think that's

the biggest concern of the activists

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here- … in the Spokane region

because so- some of them are very

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like polemical against data centers.

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They don't want data centers at all.

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But most of the, I th- I think to a T

every, every single one of them thinks

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that the county commission should be a

lot more straightforward with the public.

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Like Al French was having these

conversations for many months with,

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… this, this data center developer.

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He actually was approached by three others

that he didn't … Like he says that

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they couldn't satisfy his like- His--

basically, like he's saying "I wanna

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bring data centers in unless they're bad."

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And that's like a pretty common

talking point among Republicans, like

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Michael Baumgartner- … the the US

congressperson who represents Eastern

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Washington has a very similar line.

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Most of the other kinda like mainstream

Republicans who are like actually

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in office- … tow the same line.

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But it's basically like we don't

want them increasing rate costs

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for- … electricity consumers.

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We don't want them having a negative

impact on our water systems and

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we're gonna extract those promises

from any data center before before

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we actually approve them, which is

like what the, the moratorium is for.

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But like this technology is evolving so

quickly- … that like you-- it's-- I

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think people are skeptical that lawmakers

who j- maybe don't have necessarily…

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they have like lots of exper-expertise.

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They're smart people, but they

probably don't have expertise in

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all the little nuances that are

happening- in the data center industry.

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So how can you plan over four months-

Well- … to anticipate all that stuff?

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And even like w- and what happens

if they do violate these terms?

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Is there actually gonna be like

consequences, or are they gonna get-

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It's- … a tiny f- a fine that is,

a fraction of a percentage of their

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profits, that's like a big worry.

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It's like- it's a really good

point because these-- the, the

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regulations that they're that they're

developing are zoning regulations.

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If your grass like grows, I don't know if

this is like a specific zoning requirement

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in Spokane, but if your grass like grows

up over a public sidewalk- like that's

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probably like a, a zoning code violation.

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The city can fine you for that.

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Yeah.

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If you're an average homeowner,

like you don't wanna see that fine.

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But if you're- Yeah … and we

don't know, 'cause Apricus has to

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be owned by some larger entity.

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It, like it doesn't have- … like

it wouldn't be able…

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I guess I guess I can't say that for

sure 'cause I haven't seen the document

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trail, but if you wanna develop a

data center, you need a lot of money.

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And banks won't finance data centers

that are not or banks have a very

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hard time financing data centers that

are not backed by a large company

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that has, the overhead to to mitigate

the costs of any kind of failure.

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So th- it's a risky industry,

especially financially.

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Yeah.

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And a lot of people are

worried that it's a bubble.

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But that's all background though.

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We're talking about what's going

on in Airway Heights, and there was

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an interesting meeting on Tuesday.

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Normally they meet on Mondays, but

Monday was a holiday this week.

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But bunch of folks showed up

to that meeting expecting…

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Somebody had heard, and this was never

on the city council's agenda, but

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somebody had heard that representatives

from Apricus were going to be at Airway

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Heights presenting to city council.

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And so we all showed up in the

Airway Heights City Council.

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It's just this- Yeah … it's

a very humble building.

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It's a- … it's like like an office

complex, and it has a downstairs like

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reception area, and then all of the

government stuff is upstairs, and they

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share it with the municipal cour- court.

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So it's , it's a kinda, it's a really

quaint place to be having decisions- Yeah

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… like this about like the existential fate-

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So what happened in the meeting

was the the council decided to move

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its executive session, which is

a- … it's like a meeting session

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where they're gonna be discussing prop-

proprietary stuff or HR kind of stuff-

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or lawsuits, stuff they, that they

can't talk about in public legally.

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They move into executive session

to have those discussions.

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They mo- they had an e- an executive

session at the end of the meeting,

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and so they had all these people, I

think there were probably 40 people

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there- … in a pretty s- small space.

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Yeah.

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They moved the executive session

up to the beginning of the meeting-

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Oh … after everybody had taken their

seats, and asked everybody to leave.

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And so we all meandered downstairs

and everybody was talking

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"What are they talking about?"

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Obviously I- Yeah … we'll never know.

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It's a, an e- an executive

session is a black box.

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And I don't…

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i'm not saying…

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I don't believe this, but a lot of

people are very skeptical that- … they

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rejiggered the meeting in order to

avoid the really vociferous public

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comments that have been happening at

public meetings across the county.

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Interesting.

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Abracus never showed up on that night.

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Yeah, I was just gonna

say, didn't she s- yeah.

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Which makes…

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I, and I don't know- And they

didn't show up to the executive- I

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think- … session either as far as I

can't imagine how that would be legal

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unless they were actually negotiating

with Abra- Yeah … with Abracus.

390

I didn't see anybody who seemed

like they were from Ab- Okay

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Abracus there.

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I think somebody got their wires

crossed- … and I think the, the idea

393

that Abracus was gonna present was I

don't think that was ever gonna happen.

394

Interesting.

395

That's my perception.

396

Okay.

397

I could be wrong about that.

398

So it was, like, never

officially on on an agenda.

399

It was never on an agenda- I see … which

is what makes me think that- Okay

400

… there was a mi- a miscommunication.

401

But they did have one item that they

discussed- … which was very interesting

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to the data c- data center con…

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or it's like the, the city council

maintains this is not related at all.

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But what they did was they approved

a, the cons- the construction or the

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commissioning of a reclamation water

source- … that would be used…

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They say that they wanna

use it to water city parks.

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The interesting thing about this is

that months ago- … city officials with

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Airway Heights had met with Abracus.

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Nobody in the public

was in those meetings.

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I think it was, there was an advertisement

somewhere that said that it was closed.

411

And they, The, the Apricus had

requested or was like trying to

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see if Airway Heights had, extra

water that they could purchase.

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Airway Heights notoriously has no

water … and they- Not no water.

414

They have this reclamation water now.

415

Oh.

416

And and it's a very similar amount to

the amount discussed in that meeting.

417

I can't remember the exact figure

off the top of my head, but,

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Wait, this goes into your your

extensive knowledge on like PFAS.

419

Doesn't Airway Heights have to get their

water from Spokane because of PFAS also?

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One of the huge kind of like-

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It's not just noise in the background.

422

I think it- … seems

that way to most people.

423

And John Hancock, the founder of

the West Plains Water Co- Coalition-

424

… who's also been on the show he

showed up with this concern in mind.

425

And he had these maps printed out.

426

And the maps show in pinkish

streaks, like, where the PFAS is.

427

And then it also juxtaposes that with

potential sites for data centers,

428

and it's just this kind of match-up.

429

It looks like like the places

where such a facility could be

430

built are right on top of the paleo

channels where the PFAS exists.

431

And we've talked about-

Yeah … we've talked on this

432

show a lot about the PFAS thing.

433

… Just a quick rundown is the, both the

airports and Airway Heights were using

434

these chemicals that they- … didn't know

were toxic, and they were- … washing the

435

chemicals off i- off the runways into…

436

They were firefighting chemicals, into the

dirt, and it would sink into the aquifer.

437

And there are about I can't

remember the exact number of wells.

438

There's hundreds of wells and

thousands of people served by this

439

contaminated water right now between

the West Plains and Airway Heights who

440

don't have a- access to clean water.

441

This people on city water in Airway

Heights have access to clean water

442

because after they discovered that

contamination they brokered a deal

443

with the city of Spokane to start

piping water into Airway Heights.

444

So they have water now.

445

But it's like- The, the city residents do.

446

And I'm not sure how I guess Spokane's

supply of water is impacted or how

447

that works all, but, If Air- if Spokane

is providing water to the City of

448

Airway Heights, and the City of Airway

Heights decides to do a data center

449

there, is it can Spokane's water be,

like, run dry or anything like that?

450

Like- I think people are more concerned

about, it would be a draw on the system.

451

Yeah.

452

And our river did run dry this summer.

453

It ran dry last summer in a specific

section, not the entire river.

454

But like- Yeah … just like in Spokane,

the Spokane Valley, Barker Road area.

455

So there are existing pretty intense

strains on the river as it is.

456

… This would, depending on the kind

of system that they use- … if they

457

do use reclaimed water, some of that

is gonna go back into the system,

458

some of that is gonna be recycled.

459

We don't really know.

460

Al French says he's, he says that he

has a commitment from the developer

461

to only use reclaimed water.

462

But it's never clear, like, how

much it's gonna need or what kind of

463

cooling- … system it's even gonna have.

464

If it…

465

the latest technology, and this is I

learned this by chatting with John,

466

who's been doing a, a ton of research

on this, the latest technology the

467

latest greatest technology in data

centers- is waterless cooling systems.

468

And the coolant that they

use is several forms of PFAS.

469

'Cause it works as like a- … it, there

are, like, cooling applications for it.

470

And they say that it's gonna be in a,

quote-unquote, "closed loop system".

471

It's a, a similar cooling

system to a nuclear, Okay

472

Power plant.

473

The, the water cool water runs through

the actual equipment that needs to be

474

cooled off, and y- it uses a lot of energy

so it heats up really fast and there's

475

a lot of hazards, so it has to be cool.

476

Otherwise it's not safe.

477

And then it goes back, the water goes back

into a, a recharge loop that's connected

478

to a cooling source, and it cools off

that hot water, and then it goes back in.

479

Okay.

480

But closed loops break.

481

And I think that's one of the, one

of the biggest concerns for folks,

482

is we talk about oil pipelines that

are supposed to be- … impervious,

483

and oil pipelines always spill.

484

A- and I think that's the main

concern, is there's some kind of thing

485

that's gonna happen if we operate

it long enough, where the PFAS will

486

start getting into our ecosystems.

487

Do you have any idea of, like, how

much of this PFAS, like, cooling,

488

coolant or whatever would be used?

489

Because, if we talk about an oil

pipeline, that's massive amounts of…

490

Those are huge pipes- … massive

amounts of oil over a massive space.

491

But with data centers, we're talking

about, a huge warehouse essentially.

492

And you can only have so much liquid

running through a system, is it, is

493

the threat, Do we have any idea of what

a spill of a data center, like, how

494

big it would even be if it happened?

495

I'm not familiar with any examples

of PFAS- Yeah … cooling systems

496

breaking contain- containment.

497

Yeah … I do know that PFAS is generally

recorded on a parts per trillion level,

498

which means- Okay … it's one- Like

if you have a little like eyedropper.

499

Like imagine that's PFAS and you

drop one drop of it into four

500

Olympic-size swimming pools that's

the ratio that they mentioned.

501

Oh, okay.

502

Yeah.

503

So even the tiniest…

504

that's when it becomes toxic.

505

Oh.

506

Or that's when it's considered dangerous.

507

I see.

508

Okay.

509

So yeah it's like a nuclear thing.

510

It's a, it doesn't have anything to do-

yeah … with nuclear technology, but

511

it's like it's, it's- Like the small space

512

the concerns- Yeah … the

concerns are similar, right?

513

Is your system contained?

514

Is it safe?

515

And with PFAS, like there's not really,

there isn't really a safe level.

516

Or we don't know if there's

a safe level, and many of the

517

ingredients, there's only…

518

So there's 14,000 categories of, or

like kinds, species I guess of PFAS.

519

Only five of them are regulated.

520

And less than 50 have

been reviewed by the EPA.

521

Oh.

522

So it would be, it would depend on the

kinds of PFAS that they had, whether

523

that could even be like scrutinized

by a government, we don't know.

524

I think the, the county is considering

as part of its moratorium to like-

525

regulate PFAS concerns but we're

still, a little ways away from that.

526

So okay, so back to Airway Heights.

527

Yeah … so the meeting was a nothing

burger essentially, or it was a something

528

burger and it was behind closed doors.

529

Yeah.

530

The generous, like the, I guess there

isn't really a generous reading.

531

But like- … just so like they,

the, the councils told … there were

532

a lot of people who had signed up.

533

I guess not a lot of people.

534

I think there were like seven or eight

people who had signed up to talk.

535

That's a lot for Airway Heights.

536

Yeah, I think it was like the- For a

city council meeting for Airway Heights

537

the council seemed a little, it

was the, the room was packed.

538

It's a small room.

539

And the council seemed a little

taken aback by the public

540

response- … that they were getting.

541

The city manager was very adamant

that they had never had a meeting

542

on the books with Apricus.

543

But the, the folks who are advocating

against data centers are like,

544

are pretty concerned about that.

545

They, and they don't trust- Yeah … they

don't trust their government officials

546

because, like on the county level,

they haven't been forthcoming.

547

And it, it- it's Airway Height-- You said

earlier that the Airway Heights officials

548

have met with Apricus in the past, right?

549

Yes.

550

Yeah.

551

Yeah.

552

Apricus presented to them- Yeah … s-

some details from their project and

553

just- … was trying to, I think they

were trying to test the the moment for

554

whether they might be able to get access

to the water that Airway Heights has.

555

That's probably not all the

water that they would need.

556

They probably need water from Spokane too.

557

The City of Spokane is the only

entity with a water right that's

558

large enough to give enough water if

they use water for cooling- … for a

559

facility like the one that's proposed.

560

The propos- the the proposed fac-

facility is for 1,000 megawatts.

561

That's almost as much of all- as all of

Spokane Count- Spokane County consumes.

562

There's not even electric,

there's not even like a power

563

infrastructure for it yet.

564

The … Is is that figure for the

data center propo- proposed in Airway

565

Heights or just- Yes Oh, okay so

and we talked about there's more.

566

Yeah I think we're getting to the point

where we might need to take a break.

567

But just real quick so there's

the one in Airway Heights.

568

We know who the customer is on that.

569

That's Apricus, the

customer, the the developer.

570

It was revealed kinda like earlier,

like between spring and summer that

571

Avista Corp, the- the big power utility

here, was in talks with an unnamed d-

572

developer to build a separate data center,

totally unrelated to the one that's

573

being proposed for the West Plains.

574

Like we think that the site that

they've been eyeing for it is

575

like like northeast of town.

576

That's a 500 mega- megawatt

data center, so about half of

577

what Spokane County consumes.

578

Okay.

579

The other two are a little more fuzzy.

580

There's this company called Sovereign

Data Centers- … that has…

581

And I've reached out to

them, and they won't respond.

582

I think they're just, I think part of

it, they might just be like placeholding.

583

But they had a version of their

website that listed the Spokane

584

Tribe as a partner in data centers.

585

So this company, Sovereign,

partners with tribes to build

586

data centers on reservations.

587

And they had listed several tribes,

including the Spokane Tribe, as a partner.

588

But as soon as the news broke about

Avista being in conversation with

589

their customer, they removed all the

governments that they were working with,

590

this company did, from their website.

591

I'm still trying to

get in touch with them.

592

I don't know how serious they are.

593

They're not incorporated in Washington.

594

So yeah.

595

And a lot of these companies tend to be

like incorporated in Delaware, which is

596

like a- … it's basically, if you know

anything about like state tax re- regimes,

597

like Delaware is like the biggest in the

United States tax haven- that exists.

598

And then there's a … So that's three.

599

And the potential fourth one, and

this is in very early stages, we

600

don't, we have no idea whether

this would actually happen or not.

601

But the tech hub that Spokane has been

trying to build, that campus might be

602

home to a da- a data center as well.

603

Oh, interesting.

604

And- Again, that's in super early stages.

605

We have no idea what that might

look like, but that's … People

606

have been talking about that.

607

And the tech hub that we're referring

to is the one that's near the airport?

608

They're trying to build one near

the airport or something like that?

609

That's the one, that's the

one … That's the hydrogen plant.

610

Oh, gotcha … that Apricus is eyeing.

611

Okay.

612

The tech hub is also in

Airway Heights, I think.

613

Yeah, it's near Airway Heights.

614

I don't know the exact location

of it, but- That's where they're

615

trying to do aerospace stuff.

616

Yeah, it's like, what the- Okay

617

the purpose of this campus is

to build parts for airplanes.

618

Gotcha.

619

Okay.

620

And probably wep- war

weapons and things like that.

621

Okay.

622

So I guess TLDR on the Airway Heights data

center stuff is … fill in the blank.

623

People are try- Like, I

think the central thing is-

624

Airway Hi- Airway Heights seems like

they don't wanna be c- part of the

625

conversation- but they are because

they've had discussions with Apricus.

626

They have some water that

they can give to Apricus.

627

And advocates, like activists, are

very concerned that they're not being

628

forthcoming because- … they had

sniffed out this, quote-unquote like

629

presentation that Apricus was supposed

s- was supposed to give and never did.

630

Again, the city maintains that,

that presentation was never on

631

the books, and they never were

they weren't gonna hear that.

632

But the activists don't necessarily

believe them I don't think.

633

Fair.

634

So yeah- … that's kinda that's

kinda l- an update on the data center.

635

So there's a million other things.

636

Yeah.

637

I'm trying, I'm actually still

trying to figure out what…

638

i'm working on some stories.

639

I have, have to figure

out what's next on it.

640

But yeah- Okay … that's where that's at.

641

Next up we're gonna talk after a

quick break, we're gonna talk about

642

the development of more than 1,000

homes in Latah Valley and some

643

conservation efforts in that area.

644

And we're back.

645

So just a reminder, this is Free Range

a production of KWRS and Range Media.

646

I'm Valerie, and I'm here with

Aaron Hedge, who's a reporter.

647

Hello.

648

I'm also…

649

I'm a journalist too, but

I'm the editor at Range.

650

We're all reporters.

651

Yeah.

652

We're all reporters and

editors, but you're the editor.

653

But yeah, we just finished talking about

the data centers or, data center talks.

654

Dater center?

655

Dater center.

656

It was- Da- data center.

657

Yeah.

658

I think we should start

saying it like that.

659

Okay.

660

Yeah.

661

Data center talks in Airway Heights.

662

But now we're gonna talk about the

development, in the same vein of

663

environmental issues, the development

of about more than 1,000 homes in

664

Latah Valley along the 195 highway.

665

Residents are worried

about its infrastructure.

666

It's kind of a rural-ish rural-ish area.

667

And it's not really, it hasn't been built

to have the infrastructure for development

668

like water and sewer that kind of stuff.

669

But also, more importantly and more

prominently recently, because of the

670

Spokane complex fires the evacuation

infrastructure is even more of a concern

671

for the houses that are already there

and the ones that are being built.

672

So Hedge, you wanted to, We just

published a story today by our data

673

fellow, Yongyu Huang, where she-

it's our first scrolly telling.

674

Yes.

675

It's very exciting.

676

The story is beautiful.

677

It's very beautiful.

678

If you go on rangemedia.co

679

and you click on this story,

it'll be this beautiful, like,

680

scrolling, immersive type thing.

681

It's very cool.

682

And she breaks down this issue very

well because it's a confusing issue.

683

But we're gonna jump in.

684

Hedge is gonna talk about infrastructure

from a la- a previous story from Yongyu.

685

He's gonna read a bit from that.

686

All right, so this is actually it's the

introduction to a piece, th- another Yang

687

Yu special- where she talked about i'll

just read the, the top of it and then

688

we'll talk about what was going on there.

689

It's this is the s- this is the exact

same scene that peop- that folks

690

in Latah Valley on like directly

south of where the fires hit.

691

This is what folks in Latah Valley

are actually really worried about.

692

So this is from a piece titled

One Way Out: Spokane Fire Evacuees

693

Flight- Fled and Faced Gridlock.

694

It reads, "The, the fire moved fast.

695

By the time Kendall Steinhardt and her

husband e- evacuated their six children

696

in three cars, the power transformers

had already star- started blowing up

697

in their Indian Trail neighborhood.

698

But as smoke billowed up to heights of

about 80 or 100 feet, she estimated, the

699

family realized that they were surrounded

b- by bumper-to-bumper traffic in a sea

700

of cars as far as the eye could see.

701

Steinhardt recalled her husband

bawling, afraid for their lives.

702

'You can look in your rear view mirrors.

703

You can look behind you.

704

All you can see is cars driving

in or backed up into the smoke,

705

and then everybody's at a

standstill,' Steinhardt said.

706

'You can see the blue skies,

but everybody's just stopped

707

there as far as you can see.'"

708

When the evacuation order came on

August 1st, residents fleeing the

709

Indian Trail area didn't get far

before finding themselves trapped.

710

Some were stopped within a block of their

own driveway by their neighbors' vehicles.

711

It took the Steinharts four and a

half hours from the time they left

712

their home to get to Post Fall-

Post- Post Falls, Idaho, just 25

713

h- f- 25 miles away to regroup.

714

Most of that time was spent stuck on

Nine Mile Road, Steinhart recalled.

715

Planes dropped bright pink fire

retard- retardant around them as

716

evacuees' cars sat in clouds of smoke.

717

She described it simply, "Just panic.

718

It's almost like a scene

from a movie," she said.

719

"We were scared that we weren't

going to, that we were going

720

to die there for a moment."

721

So I don't know I, I imagine lots of

folks- who are listening remember the,

722

the evacuation notices that the local

fire department sent out on our phones.

723

And it escalated very quickly.

724

There were lots…

725

there were some areas that were

in level three, which is the

726

highest you-have-to-leave-right-now

evacuation status.

727

Some areas were just in various

fluctuating stages of that.

728

But people who were not or- ordered

to evacuate were leaving, too.

729

And there were so many people

driving on the roads- … that

730

it just became really congested.

731

And I remember seeing on my

phone "If you're not running

732

for your life- stay home."

733

Yeah, we got those text alerts.

734

They were aggressive.

735

Rightfully yeah.

736

And I think that, so I…

737

they're similar areas.

738

They're a little bit- … out.

739

I think La- Latou Valley

is a little more isolated.

740

Qu- actually quite a bit more isol-

isolated than Indian Trail, but- Yeah

741

Just 'cause there's public

infrastructure- Yeah … up in the

742

kinda like the northwest area of town.

743

Yeah.

744

There there is a bus that runs-

Yes … to Indian Trail, yeah and

745

there's lo- there's lots of residential

roads and things- … like that.

746

So it's like it, it is in this area

called the, the Wildland Urban Interface.

747

It's in the city limits, but it's

basically a place where there's lots

748

of foliage and, like- … things that

are combustible surrounding- … houses

749

and neighborhoods, and that's one of

the things that was so dangerous about

750

this, these past fires last month.

751

Latah Valley is a little different.

752

So just for context it's…

753

if you've never been to Latah Valley,

you just go out on- … inland Empire

754

Road, and you can you can follow that

into the residential areas of Latah

755

Valley- … or you travel south on I-95.

756

I-95, right?

757

Yeah.

758

Then you travel s- Yeah,

and then you go on the 195.

759

Yeah, the 195.

760

Thank you.

761

Yeah.

762

It's the 195.

763

That's right.

764

So this, like…

765

There have been a lot of developments

in, l- actual, like- … residential

766

developments in that area

over the last few decades.

767

It's a gorgeous place.

768

There's, There, there's golf courses.

769

There's, And a h- and a…

770

It's, it mainly tries to attract

people who are, like, yeah, upper

771

m- upper middle class, I think.

772

I think that, I think I read the out-

the median price of a home in the Latah

773

Valley areas it's more than $500,000.

774

So you have to, have a line

on half a million dollars to

775

live there- if you want to.

776

It wasn't always like that.

777

It's getting more expensive.

778

There are a lot of developments

that were approved.

779

… We were talking about moratoriums-

… last in the first part of the show.

780

The city has instituted two moratoriums.

781

The first one was a six-month moratorium

782

year-long moratorium in 2024 on new-

housing development applications-

783

Yeah … in the Latah Valley specifically.

784

A moratorium is just a

pause on applications.

785

It just means that the government who's

in charge of a- approving the applications

786

doesn't do those kinds of applications-

Yeah … for that period of time.

787

It's started back up.

788

There's still development going on.

789

And the developments that were approved

before those moratoriums are still

790

moving forward, and so that's why-

Yes … there's- … more than, t-

791

1,200 homes that are being built

right now or in various stages of

792

being built in the Latah Valley.

793

Yeah.

794

Because those were already approved either

between the m- moratoriums or before it.

795

Yeah.

796

And you get this…

797

I get this image of just

a dog chasing its tail.

798

Like- … the city just isn't…

799

The developments are so advanced.

800

There's so many of them.

801

There's so many people interested

in that area that it's just, like-

802

the local governments don't have

the wherewithal to, to stop them

803

utterly from doing what they're doing.

804

But, it's still the city of

Spokane, technically, right?

805

Yeah.

806

Yeah.

807

Okay.

808

Yeah, it's in the city limits.

809

In the c- so basically the, there's

this problem that's cropping up.

810

It's like there are a lot of new houses

going in, and the infrastructure to

811

move people around- … to accommodate

their needs, to, get them water.

812

There's not even a fire

station in Latah Valley.

813

It's- Yeah … it's a

f- there's one fire hub.

814

It's not a- an actual station.

815

I think a really fun part of the scroll…

816

Not fun, but the scrollytelling

experience on Young Yoo's story is at

817

the very bottom it has a picture of…

818

It's literally a single-family

home- … that serves as a fire station.

819

I…

820

that's the…

821

there's a firetruck in front of it,

and it looks like it just lives there.

822

I'm assuming that the city owns it

or rents it or something like that.

823

It looks…

824

Yeah.

825

It's somebody's actual house, but

it is made from an actual house.

826

You could see a kid driving past

asking- Yeah … their parent "Does,

827

do the firefighters live there?"

828

Yeah.

829

It looks like a home.

830

Yeah.

831

And so they don't even

have that out there.

832

So when- Yeah, they don't have,

they don't have schools, they

833

don't have- … there's, I

think there's one grocery store.

834

They don't have, And, and- There's

no bus line … there's like the h-

835

they use a really old train tunnels to

basically get in and out of that area.

836

And those can't…

837

A huge problem with infrastructure

with- in an emergency setting is that

838

those could not accommodate the amount

of people that would be needing to

839

evacuate in an emergency situation

as it is now, and then they're adding

840

even more people on top of that.

841

Yangyi wrote a, a report where, during

high traffic areas- those those places

842

where these small thin roads, many of them

just one lane- … are backed up 50 cars.

843

Yeah.

844

For, for- … a certain

period in the morning.

845

And that's for the

people commuting to work.

846

So you- Oh, that was a commute?

847

I thought it was when they

did an evacuation drill.

848

I think that was when they

did an evacuation drill.

849

I would need to ch- I would

need to check that in the piece.

850

Maybe it was an, an evacuation drill.

851

Yes.

852

Either way if there's a fire … Yes,

you don't want, Yes, it was they

853

did an evacuation drill in April,

and a report "The route from East

854

Meadow Lane Road to the US 195, both

northbound and southbound, experience

855

consistent congestion with queue

lengths of up to 50 vehicles at

856

peak times throughout the exercise."

857

Okay.

858

So yeah, that's not the…

859

I feel like if people were getting

that backed up in their commutes,

860

that there would be a riot by now.

861

Yeah.

862

And this is a drill, right?

863

Like- Yeah … not everybody's

actually, like, feeling the- True,

864

yeah … urgency to run for their lives.

865

There the situation in an actual wildfire

would be- would be really intense.

866

Yeah.

867

The state has been, the State

Department of Transportation has been

868

for years has is- like, has issued

several, like s- I don't know policy

869

stances to- … the City of Spokane.

870

If we don't reach this goal by this time

we're gonna shut down that highway."

871

The 195?

872

They've talked about it, yeah.

873

Oh, wow.

874

And it's never come close to that.

875

Yeah.

876

But they're just like, "This

is a pot- a potential scenario.

877

This is how bad- … your

situation is here.

878

We might need to shut down traffic

on that road and rethink-" Yeah

879

… exactly, like, how we're gonna,

develop infrastructure there out.

880

I remember…

881

yangyi, and Yangyi did, This is

really particularly cool with

882

this girly telling feature.

883

She did this analysis of the different

homes that are gonna be, that the

884

developers are look- looking to construct.

885

But the big news item is that the, the

State Department of Natural Resources-

886

placed this property where that's

been proposed for a development.

887

Right now it's a DNR property Department

of Natural Resources Yeah, Department

888

of Natural Resources property they,

the, the Department of Natural

889

Resources once has wanted to get rid

of it in the past 'cause it's just

890

it's like a chain around its neck.

891

Yeah It's like it, it can't

really do much with it.

892

And so there's, there are developers

who have nearby developments who want

893

to buy that property and extend the

developments out, adding hundreds

894

of homes- Yeah … on this property.

895

And this week the Department of Natural

Re- or it might've been last week,

896

announced that- Yeah, it was last week

897

they were placing it on, placing this

property on a list that basically will

898

protect it until the state can find

funds to buy it from the City of Spokane

899

so that they don't- … have to sell

it to a developer, or buy it from the

900

Department of Natural Resources rather.

901

So that they can just, like-

the department, DNR wouldn't

902

have to worry about it.

903

It would just be maintained

as a state trust.

904

Yeah.

905

That's a big victory for people

in- And- … Latah Valley.

906

They've been advocating

it for a long time.

907

There's this or- there's an

organization a nonprofit started by

908

Molly Marshall- who ran against Al

French in his last election cycle.

909

The, a big part of that campaign was this

kind of thing, like making sure that they

910

pres- preserve open areas and don't turn

it into new houses where there would be

911

more people who still need to come out.

912

Yeah.

913

And this, so that is not…

914

The, the key thing is that this

natural, the Thorpe Natural

915

Area is not a done deal yet.

916

It was just recommended.

917

Basically, DNR put it on a list of six

properties- … throughout the state

918

that are being recommended to the

legislature so that in, in the legislative

919

session in January, February, March

the legislature will vote on allocating

920

capital funds to buying these properties.

921

And so this is number five on the list,

and it's, so it's a question of, number

922

one in Yong Yeow's story she talks

about number one, the state is in a

923

deficit, a huge- Yeah … budget deficit.

924

But capital funds are not necessarily

affected by the deficit or, like- Right

925

there's still money in the capital funds.

926

Yeah.

927

The, the capital fund is much more,

like- Yeah … flexible than- so they

928

could still use those funds for buying

these properties, but, there's always

929

the chance that with the deficit they

might have to reallocate stuff- … from

930

the capital funds, things like that.

931

They have to convince the majority

of the legislators to do it.

932

Yeah.

933

And they- and that's a hard thing

to do- … especially right now

934

And so it's like thir- up to $30

million basically to buy these.

935

And it's a matter of if they

vote to give the funds if there's

936

enough funds to make it all the way

down the list to that number five

937

property which is the one here.

938

And I think that's it, actually.

939

Yeah.

940

It there's a ton of hurdles

they- Yeah, there's still

941

hurdles … they have to jump through.

942

Yeah.

943

But for now, the property is…

944

it's still a natural area.

945

Yep.

946

And it will be, And if it is, it'll

stay a natural area if it goes

947

through this process- which is a

big win for the Latah Valley area.

948

So it's kind of good

news, bad news, I think.

949

It's complicated.

950

Yeah.

951

Yeah.

952

As with everything in our lives.

953

I was drafting a, our weekly newsletter

yesterday with the subject line.

954

We didn't send it out yesterday

because we were gonna wait on this

955

story today, but the, the subject

line was "Good news, but…"

956

Or no, "Good news for

controva- conservation

957

activists, but there's a but."

958

Yeah.

959

There's always a but.

960

Yeah.

961

I think we're, I think

we need to sign out.

962

Yes.

963

That went fast.

964

Yeah.

965

We'll keep following this stuff, but yeah.

966

Yeah.

967

We keep following along with data center

stuff and conservation stuff as always.

968

You can find our work at rangemedia.co

969

and read on U's stories there and

experience the scrolly-telling-

970

Scrolly-telling … experience.

971

I'm gonna play us out.

972

Do you have questions

about local government?

973

Wondering who to complain to about

an issue in your neighborhood?

974

Wondering which agency

governs certain things?

975

Wondering why something is

happening or how much it costs?

976

Email us at [email protected]

977

with your questions, and we'll

try to answer them next week.

978

Free Range is a weekly news and

public affairs program presented by

979

Range Media and produced by Range

Media and KYRS Community Radio.

980

KYRS Medical Lake Spokane,

we'll see you next time.

981

Bye, everyone