Army Corps Issues Federal Permit for Proposed Buck Canyon Data Center Site

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved a Nationwide Permit 39 verification for the Buck Canyon Site Project in southern Adams County on February 18, granting applicant 68 Yards, LLC the federal authorization needed to discharge dredged and fill material into waters of the United States as part of constructing twelve buildings, internal roadways, five stormwater basins, and utility infrastructure on a 1,016-acre tract in Sprigg Township.

A former Dayton Power and Light landfill site, now known as Buck Canyon, has emerged as a leading site for data center development in Adams County. The parcel sits north and east of Ginger Ridge Road, west of U.S. Route 52, and within sight of the former J.M. Stuart coal plant, which ceased power generation in 2018.

The Nationwide Permit No. 39 comes with special conditions to protect endangered bats, mussels, and butterflies, and establishes a 100-foot buffer zone to keep construction crews from disturbing three cemeteries near the site. Lee J. Arco, a regulatory archaeologist for the Army Corps' North Branch, confirmed the permit was "verified with 11 special conditions." Those conditions require that crews "cease all work" if previously unknown historic or archaeological sites or human remains are uncovered. The permit also mandates temporary construction fencing around the Boone and Davidson cemeteries, and permanent fencing around the Rogers Parr cemetery.

The environmental cost of the project is significant. The permit authorizes the permanent loss of 1,893 linear feet of streams and, according to People's Defender reporting, 0.06 acre of wetlands. Ohio EPA records cited separately report "unavoidable permanent impacts to approximately 0.74 acres of three low-quality isolated wetlands" on the site. To offset the stream impacts, 68 Yards, LLC must purchase 4,281 linear feet of stream mitigation credits through The Nature Conservancy's in-lieu fee program. To address wetland impacts, 68 Yards LLC asked the EPA to approve its purchase of wetland mitigation credits from the Red Stone Farm Mitigation Bank in Pike County.

The scale of the proposed development has drawn widening concern. In its initial letter to the Army Corps of Engineers on Nov. 26, 68 Yards LLC said it expected to clear "approximately 320 acres of forested habitat" for the Buck Canyon project. Ohio EPA records show the Buck Canyon site could hold twelve light industrial buildings, internal access drives, five stormwater management basins and utility infrastructure by 2028.

The energy implications are what have most galvanized the local debate. DP&L's parent company, AES Ohio, disclosed in a Feb. 3 regulatory filing that a data center "in the vicinity" of the Stuart plant would require 1,300 megawatts of electricity by 2032, which would make it one of Ohio's largest data centers, consuming 31 times the annual power consumption of Adams County. That filing was significant because it confirmed for the first time that a data center is in the works in Adams County. AES Ohio has not named the operator or confirmed the project will occupy the former landfill site specifically.

The petitions circulating among Adams County voters call for an Ohio constitutional amendment that would ban data centers statewide, ask county commissioners to establish rural zoning that could make data centers harder to build, and direct Sprigg Township Trustees to rescind a January 26 resolution that signaled no intent to change zoning at the former Stuart power plant. Monroe Township trustees passed a March 2 resolution to establish a zoning commission to regulate development in its 27-square-mile jurisdiction, which includes the Killen plant; Sprigg Township trustees passed a one-year voluntary moratorium on data centers the same day.

The federal permit does not resolve what 68 Yards, LLC ultimately intends to build. The applicant's letter to the Army Corps described a project that would "service the southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky region," but public filings have not confirmed a named tenant or data center operator. The Army Corps found the project met the criteria for commercial and institutional development under federal rules, provided the developer complies with the full list of special conditions and mitigation requirements now attached to the Buck Canyon permit.