Write your officials

Dear Commissioner Schneider, Commissioner Whitson, Commissioner Reynolds, and Commissioner Minor, I am a resident of Bell County and I’m writing to urgently request your intervention on a matter that directly threatens our quality of life, our infrastructure, our environment, and our future. The City of Temple is currently approving large-scale commercial data center projects at an alarming rate — including at least three major developments proposed by Rowan Digital Infrastructure (Project Temple, Project Stampede, and Project Ranger) — without adequate study, transparency, or accountability. These facilities are industrial in scale and bring serious consequences: massive water consumption, heavy electrical demand requiring new high-voltage transmission infrastructure, noise pollution, traffic, and long-term strain on regional resources that extend well beyond Temple's city limits into Bell County. As Bell County residents, we are caught in a deeply unfair situation: we bear the consequences of these decisions, yet we have no voice in Temple's city government. We cannot vote in Temple's city council elections. We are not represented on the Temple Economic Development Corporation board that approves these incentive agreements. We are shut out of the process entirely — yet we will pay the price. The same is true for residents of neighboring Hill County, who face identical consequences from unchecked development along our shared regional corridors — industrial sprawl that respects no county line. Most troubling is that the City of Temple and the Temple EDC have refused to commission independent impact studies examining the cumulative effects of these projects on water supply, the electrical grid, roads, air quality, and surrounding property values. These decisions are being made without the basic due diligence that residents of Bell County — your constituents — deserve. We respectfully urge you to take the following actions on our behalf: - Formally call for a moratorium on data center approvals in and around Temple until independent, comprehensive environmental and infrastructure impact studies are completed and made public; - Use your authority and platform to demand that Bell County's interests be represented in any regional planning discussions related to data center development, transmission infrastructure, and industrial land use; - Advocate for Bell County residents who are directly impacted by Temple's decisions but have no mechanism to participate in or challenge them due to jurisdictional and electoral boundaries; - Coordinate with Hill County leadership to present a unified, multi-county opposition to unsustainable industrial development being pushed outward from Temple's city limits into surrounding rural communities; and - Engage with state legislators and the Texas Legislature to close the loopholes that allow municipalities to externalize the costs of industrial development onto neighboring counties and unincorporated residents without oversight or recourse. Commissioner’s Schneider, Whitson, Reynolds, and Minor it is the responsibility of county government to serve as the last line of defense against irresponsible and unsustainable development. When a city pushes industrial growth outward without regard for the counties and communities that absorb the impact, it falls to county commissioners to say: enough. Bell County and Hill County residents did not vote for data centers. We did not consent to high-voltage transmission lines cutting through our communities. We did not agree to have our water, our roads, and our way of life sacrificed for the benefit of out-of-state corporations and a city government that does not represent us. Temple is out of control, and our community is being left to absorb the consequences of decisions made without us, for us. We need you to stand up for us, for Bell County, for our neighbors in Hill County, and for every resident who has no seat at Temple's table. We are asking you to act — not someday, but now. Please respond to this letter so that we know our concerns have been received and are being addressed. Respectfully,

Dear Judge Blackburn and Bell County Commissioners, I am writing to request a Declaration of Local Disaster based on an "imminent threat of widespread damage, injury, or loss of life” resulting from water contamination and fire. I urge you use this Emergency Declaration to halt all operations and development regarding the ROWAN projects. I am a resident of Bell County and I am deeply concerned about this recent news. It has come to light that the City of Temple has an ASR well known as the “Rowan Well” surrounded by Rowan data center construction. As you know, ASR wells inject water into our pristine underground aquifer for storage, with the intent to pump it back out later. Due to the risks of contamination, this is a profoundly dangerous idea for our community. Under the County’s emergency management authority, we need an immediate, independent, third-party audit on this ASR well before another drop of water is injected into our shared water supply. Furthermore, this facility poses an immediate physical threat to our community and our first responders, by failing to comply with UL 9540A fire code as required by law. By failing to enforce this requirement, it is impossible for our local fire departments and first responders to design an accurate, safe hazard mitigation plan. This puts our first responders in lethal danger and risks an unmitigated industrial disaster that may contaminate large parts of the county. I’m asking you to please use your emergency authority granted by the State of Texas to halt this development until full compliance has been proven. Respectfully,

Dear Senator Flores, Representative Buckley and Representative Hickland, As your constituent, I am a writing to urgently request your intervention on a matter that directly threatens our health, our quality of life, our farmland, our infrastructure, our environment, and our future. The City of Temple, and many cities and counties around the state, are currently approving large-scale commercial data center projects at an alarming rate without adequate study, transparency, or accountability. These facilities bring serious consequences: environmental health impacts, massive water consumption, heavy electrical demand on an already failing power grid, noise pollution, traffic, and long-term strain on our resources. Most troubling is that the City of Temple, and cities like it, have refused to commission independent impact studies examining the cumulative effects of these projects on water supply, the electrical grid, roads, air quality, public health and surrounding property values. These decisions are being made without the basic due diligence that Texans, your constituents, deserve. We respectfully urge you to take the following actions on our behalf: Formally pass a moratorium on all data center construction until independent, comprehensive, environmental and infrastructure impact studies are completed and made public; Call a special Legislative Session to define solid regulation regarding this emerging industry. Pass legislation to guarantee the citizens have a voice in any large-scale development that my impact our quality of life. Ensure citizens’ interests are represented in any regional planning discussions related to data center development, transmission infrastructure, and industrial land use It is the responsibility of government to defend the best interests of the people against irresponsible and unsustainable development. For many of us, this is the most important issue on the November ballot. We did not vote for data centers. We did not vote for high-voltage transmission lines cutting through our communities. We did not agree to have our water, our roads, our health, and our way of life sacrificed for the benefit of out-of-state corporations and local governments that do not and cannot represent us. But we will vote in November. Are you representing the people or the corporations? We are asking you to act, not someday, but now. Please respond to this letter so that we know our concerns have been received and are being addressed. Respectfully,

Dear Natural Resources Committee, As a voting Texan, I urge you to hold another interim hearing that consists of public testimony only. No invited testimony. Please make this a two or three day meeting as many in the public would like to attend and voice their concerns. The June 23 hearing left much of the public in dismay. There was a blatant disregard for the time and efforts of constituents who drove to Austin to be heard. We would like this meeting to be held on the weekend so that more people can attend. We also want a ban on data centers. Please hold this interim meeting before the elections in November. Respectfully,

Dear Texas Legislators, Gov. Abbott has called for a prohibition of AI data centers in rural Texas. We cannot wait until January for you to discuss this. We need a special session NOW and a ban issued immediately until the legislature has time to meet and study this issue. These data centers are building right now without any regulation. Counties don’t even know that they are building until after they have broken ground. This is a state of emergency and you must call for a special session immediately. Thank you,