Readers respond: Serving Google, not the community – OregonLive

Thank you for the article regarding Googles proposed deal with the City of The Dalles for additional data centers (Google wants a lot more water and a new tax deal for big data center expansion in The Dalles, Sept. 27). It is important to cover issues like these for eastern Oregon residents.

Last winter, we were interested in purchasing some light industrial property in The Dalles area. As we began our search, we soon realized that there is an extremely limited supply of light industrial land available. After finding one acceptable parcel, we asked the city to provide information on electrical and water availability, since we would need a reliable source of both. The city told us they would have to get back to us with that information. They never did answer our questions, even after repeated requests. Now I know why they couldnt/wouldnt answer our questions; they were waiting to find out what Google needed. Google already owns much of the industrial land in the city, and now it wants even more water than it already uses.

The city and Google wont even tell the community how much water the company will need. Its a trade secret. The aquifer it wishes to draw from has been designated a critical groundwater area since 1959. Can we really expect that the city wont need this water for their constituents in the future, especially if climate change reduces water availability? What will this huge draw on the aquifer do to surrounding properties? It appears that what Google wants Google gets, and as in most political decisions, money and influence mean more than doing the right thing for the people of the community or for the environment.

Gary Wade, The Dalles

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Readers respond: Serving Google, not the community - OregonLive