The Stafford County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to allow the county to take nine parcels of land by eminent domain to build a reuse water pipe that will primarily be used to cool data centers, according to the Fredericksburg Free Press.
The votes on all nine matters were 4-2-1. Vice Chairwoman Maya Guy and Rock Hill Supervisor Crystal Vanuch voted no, and Griffis-Widewater Supervisor Tinesha Allen abstained.
Data center developers are building the system, known as the “purple pipe,” as an alternative to drinking water for cooling. The reuse water is treated but not drinkable. Ten property owners have settled with the developers, while nine landowners, including homeowners associations and individuals, have not, which triggered the county’s condemnation.
Residents of the Somerset Landing subdivision urged the board not to proceed because the pipe’s path would run through woods owned by their homeowners association. Chairman Deuntay Diggs said the county had already legally agreed to use eminent domain if developers could not get right-of-way from landowners.
County Administrator Bill Ashton said eminent domain is being pursued because the pipe will be public infrastructure, owned by the county and available to other businesses for industrial cooling once complete.
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