Project Anthem, a proposed $800 million, 340-acre data center campus planned for east Tulsa, has been a hot topic at City Hall for months.
But, as data centers earn headlines in Sand Springs and Coweta, organizers are concerned many east Tulsans don’t know about a data center potentially coming to their neighborhood.
Three organizations focused on Indigenous environmental justice, including Honor the Earth, Indigenous Environmental Network and Stop Data Colonialism, hosted an event at Pancho Anaya Thursday night to change that.
The organizations have hosted town halls since August to discuss data centers in Tulsa.
“I hope that they will understand the impacts to the water, the land values, and then I really hope that communities understand the power that they have to stop this,” said Jordan Harmon, a policy specialist with Indigenous Environmental Network. “They can tell the city we don’t want that. They can show up to the meetings.”
Project Anthem will be located at the intersection of East 11th Street and the Creek Turnpike. The company behind the project isn’t public, but ATMOSS, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company is listed as the developer of the property, according to city documents.
The first phase of Project Anthem has already been approved. The next phase of the project is what’s on the table for Tulsa City Council, which is considering adding an additional 375 acres to the site.
The event was prompted by community organizer Linda Allegro, who asked the organizations to bring their knowledge to the eastside. She said she hears a lot about residents on the eastside being afraid to go out due to increased immigration enforcement amid the Trump administration’s deportation campaign.
“While I understand that, we have to stay engaged, we have to stay informed, we need to be involved, our voices do matter,” Allegro said. “We can’t expect the community and folks to come downtown, you know, so let’s bring it out to the community.”
The organizations offered fact sheets in Spanish and an interpreter available if community members needed translation services.
Organizers don’t currently have plans to host additional town halls on the eastside. Harmon said it’s likely they will continue to come out to keep the community informed.
“There’s some people that are learning about the data centers who’ve never been involved in politics, they’ve never so much as called their city councilor or anything like that … it feels scary and hard at first, especially if you’ve never done it,” Harmon said.
East Tulsan Janeth Bernal is one of those people. She didn’t know much about Project Anthem beforehand.
Bernal’s biggest concern is how the data center will impact water usage. She lives in the area with her partner and three-month-old child.
“I wanted to get informed because we have little kids,” Bernal said. “We consume (and) shower with that water. How will it harm my family?”
Joseph Baker, a tech worker who lives in east Tulsa, was aware of Project Anthem. He said he’d rather not see any community resources going toward the proposal.
“It’s taking power from people,” he said. “It’s driving up costs.”
Data centers continue to drive debate for elected officials, including city councilors and state lawmakers. The Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission is set to discuss a proposed year-long moratorium on data centers March 18. If all goes to plan, Tulsa City Council will consider the proposal March 25.
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