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NorthMark Strategies, through its subsidiary Valara Holdings, LLC, is building a data center at 4000 South Pine Street in Spartanburg – and the scale of what's being built is far larger than what the community was ever told.
Valara is seeking a permit to generate approximately 450 megawatts of energy on-site using gas-fired generators and turbines – a ninefold increase over the 50 megawatts originally permitted, and an on-site generation capacity equivalent to a full-scale gas-fired power plant.
The surrounding community deserves better than what this process has offered them. The area is already among the most overburdened in the nation for existing toxic air pollution, ranking in the 98th percentile by environmental screening tools. It is home to hundreds of families, 17 schools within a five-mile radius, and nearby nursing homes, medical offices, places of worship and recreational spaces. Substantially increasing harmful air pollution here raises serious environmental and public health concerns. The South Carolina Department of Environmental Services (DES) has the authority and the responsibility to hold Valara accountable.
Email: AirPNComments@des.sc.gov
Mail: SCDES Bureau of Air Quality, Air Permitting Division Director, 2600 Bull Street, Columbia SC 29201
Air Permit #: CP-50000422 v1.0
Your voice is most effective when it's authentically yours. Share your personal connection to this community and why clean air matters to you. The following points may help guide your comment:
Health Impacts: The gas-fired generators and turbines powering this facility would emit particulate matter, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), including formaldehyde. All of these emissions are linked to asthma, respiratory illness, heart disease and cancer. If permitted as proposed, this facility could become one of the largest industrial sources of air pollution in the Upstate and, for several of these pollutants, the largest in Spartanburg County.
Environmental Justice: This area already ranks in the 98th percentile nationwide for existing toxic air pollution according to environmental screening tools. Residents were never informed that the facility's energy generation could balloon by 800%. DES should prioritize the health and safety of the neighborhoods closest to this site. Adding significant new pollution to an already overburdened community is not acceptable.
Transparency and Accountability: Spartanburg County Council approved a tax deal for this project without informing the community about its true scope or environmental footprint. Communities deserve to know what is being proposed before decisions are made – not after. DES should impose the most protective criteria available and deny the permit if those standards cannot be met.
On June 25, hundreds of Spartanburg residents packed the public hearing. Sixty-five people spoke – and all were in opposition.
SCELP Upstate Staff Attorney Emily Poole was one of them. Here is part of what she shared with DES:
"Given the site's location, the threat to human health cannot be overstated. The area is surrounded by hundreds of homes, 17 schools and numerous businesses, medical offices, nursing homes, places of worship and recreational spaces. This area already ranks in the 98th percentile nationwide for existing toxic air pollution. Residents in the surrounding area were never informed that the facility's gas generation could balloon by 800% — leaving them no real opportunity to protect their community or quality of life. Now, after being left in the dark many times over, they are being asked to carry the brunt of significant, harmful air pollution. The people of Spartanburg County deserve better."
Meeting transcripts will be available on DES’ website soon.
