SALEM, OREGON · DATA CENTERS
Archive item · Events of July 27 – August 3, 2026
What happened: Representatives of Verrus, which is proposing a $5.1 billion data center at the Mill Creek Corporate Center, left a July 27 Salem City Council meeting partway through, saying they “felt unsafe,” the Salem Reporter’s Joe Siess reported. The meeting drew heavy public opposition. The city manager then called a special meeting, and on August 3 the council unanimously passed a moratorium on data centers.
Claim: Verrus’ statement that its team felt unsafe.
Check: The Salem Reporter confirmed the departure and the company’s stated reason. We did not find local reporting of arrests or police action at the meeting. More dramatic details circulated in national coverage, but we could not confirm them in local reporting, so we have left them out.
Concern: Residents raised water, power, noise and confidentiality agreements. Verrus had not yet filed a land use application.
Outcome: Moratorium adopted. The council also moved to restrict nondisclosure agreements with data center companies.
Location Decision takeaway
Arriving before an application, with NDAs in place, left the company defending a project the public could not see. Earlier disclosure would not guarantee support, but it gives a meeting something concrete to debate.
Original reporting: Joe Siess, Salem Reporter, July 29, 2026. Follow-up: Salem Reporter, August 3, 2026.
About this item: Contested Ground items are sourced and written by AI from the credited reporting and public records linked above, following Location Decision’s editorial standards. We publish them to track disputes over what America builds and to inform Location Decision’s broader editorial analysis. They are not independent reporting by our staff.