01/14/2026
Take a moment to read and sign.
BREAKING: We’re suing to protect one of the most important conservation areas in the South from data centers.
SELC filed a lawsuit in South Carolina state court after Colleton County passed a zoning change that makes it easier for industrial-scale data centers to locate in rural areas.
That change not only makes building data centers in the rural ACE Basin easier but is also an attempt to clear the way for a proposed 859-acre, 1,000-megawatt data center campus in Colleton County—one of the largest in the country. The project would sit in the rural ACE Basin, a nationally treasured landscape that protects the Ashepoo, Combahee, and Edisto rivers and surrounding land.
Data centers of this scale demand enormous amounts of energy, generate constant noise and light, and threaten the character of rural communities. Hundreds of community members have already spoken out in opposition.
On behalf of two Colleton County residents, SELC’s lawsuit argues the new zoning ordinance violates state law, the county’s comprehensive plan, and its own zoning code.
“This ordinance opens a cherished, rural part of our state to industrial development and all the pollution and degradation that comes with it,” said SELC Senior Attorney Emily Wyche. “Data centers don’t belong in the rural ACE Basin.”
We’re standing with local residents to protect South Carolina’s rural communities and one of the most important conservation areas in the Southeast.
Learn more: https://selc.link/4jyvSZR
