Environmental advocacy group One Hundred Miles and five Effingham County residents filed a lawsuit Monday in Superior Court, alleging the Effingham County Industrial Development Authority negotiated OpenAI's $20 billion data center project behind closed doors in violation of Georgia's Open Meetings Act and Open Records Act.
Southern Environmental Law Center filed the lawsuit on behalf of One Hundred Miles and residents Amy Collins, Robert Collins, Elizabeth Fisher, Crystal Hayes and Manjusha Sheobaran.
“For 20 years, the property across from our homes has suffered under the curse of the IDA's administrative overreach, from land grabs to secret agreements,” said Sheobaran, who lives in close proximity to the data center site, in a press release
from SELC. “As Effingham residents, we have been kept in the dark. When a controversial development threatens our quality of life, natural resources, or tax base, the matter goes beyond county officials' desires. Our community must have a voice in any major decisions that directly impact our families and neighbors and it’s time for the IDA to follow the law requiring a transparent, open process.”
What is in the lawsuit?
According to a Southern Environmental Law Center press release, the ECIDA concealed details about the project by listing it as "Project Gateway" on a July meeting agenda and did not disclose a tax abatement package worth more than $800 million.
"That omission denied residents meaningful notice of the public business before the agency," reads a statement from the press release. "The filing also challenges the Authority’s last-minute rescheduling of its July meeting without the required seven days’ advance notice, as well as the sale of publicly owned land to OpenAI’s affiliate, Octans, GA LLC, through a private agent. Georgia law requires government entities to conduct a public meeting before selling off public land."
SELC attorney Zachary Hennessee said his organization began investigating how the meeting was handled in July. The meeting, he said, was supposed to take place July 16 but was moved to July 21.
“We realized there was, in our view, a very clear violation of Georgia's transparency laws,” said Hennessee. “They rescheduled that meeting at the last minute and didn't provide the community with sufficient advance notice and then sent out an agenda for that meeting that used a code name, 'Project Gateway', with no additional information. Nobody knew what that code name meant, which effectively meant the public had no idea that they were about to approve this deal to bring in OpenAI.”
What are the plaintiffs seeking?
Hennessee told the Savannah Morning News the lawsuit seeks judicial relief that would voice the agreements that brought OpenAI to Effingham County.
“The relief that we're seeking would cease the project as it is currently operating,” said Hennessee. “It's operating on the basis of this tax abatement and the land sale. If a judge voids those, we don't think that OpenAI would be able to continue to proceed as it is. We’re seeking to vindicate the community's rights to government transparency and to self-determination, and we're seeking to send a message. We're seeing a glut of data centers pop up all around our state, and they are more often than not negotiated in secret."
He went on to say he hopes the suit sends a message throughout the entire state that government laws regarding open meetings should be honored.
“The community should have an opportunity to provide input, to participate in that decision making and let their officials know whether they want it or not,” said Hennessee.
According to Cleanview, an online platform that tracks data centers throughout the country, 43 data centers are operating in Georgia but more than 130 additional facilities are planned. The sudden surge of AI-related data centers has drawn opposition in some communities, including from advocates like Hennessee, who say the trend is alarming.“I heard somewhere that Georgia is the number one state for [new] data centers, and it's extremely concerning,” said Hennessee. “It's concerning from an environmental perspective, particularly the extreme energy demand of these data centers but also the local impacts from water use to noise pollution."
SELC will serve a copy of the complaint to the defendants by mail. Hennessee said ECIDA has 30 days to respond upon being served. From there, they can either file a response where they either admit or deny the allegations or file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
Brandt Herndon, chief executive officer of the Effingham County Industrial Development Authority said he is aware of reports of the lawsuit but that the ECIDA had not been served as of Tuesday afternoon.
"The ECIDA respects the legal process and will carefully review the allegations once it receives formal notice. It would be inappropriate to comment on the claims before the ECIDA and its legal counsel have had an opportunity to review the filing," he said in an email. "The Authority remains committed to conducting its business in accordance with applicable laws and to supporting the economic development interests of Effingham County. We will respond appropriately through the legal process as this matter moves forward."
Lawsuit against Effingham County
This is not the first lawsuit filed regarding the data center. Dr. Michelle Finch-Mincey, Lehman Mincey, Jr. and Raymond Carver filed a lawsuit against Effingham County Sept. 2., alleging what they believe to be a "lack of transparency by government officials and unlawful procedure used to amend the County’s zoning laws," according to the lawsuit.
On Aug. 4, commissioners approved a second reading of Ordinance 2026-352, amending the zoning ordinance in the planned use table and, "expanded the ability for currently zoned industrial properties to permit data centers," the lawsuit reads.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the county failed to comply with its own zoning ordinance when adopting Ordinance 2026-352, that the court declare Ordinance 2026-352 invalid and unenforceable and that the court orders attorney’s fees for violating the Georgia Open Meeting Act, among other things.
“The commissioners continued to reiterate everything they were doing is legal, then tried to drill that in people’s heads, which is what made me do more research,” said Raymond Carver, one of the plaintiffs in the Effingham County lawsuit. “What I want is for the public to be able to have their voices heard. There has been enough outcry from the public that the location is not the best place for it. I am not against data centers, but this is not the location for it. There needs to be changes and if this lawsuit sparks change, so be it.”
A statement from the county reads, “The Effingham County Board of Commissioners does not comment on any pending or ongoing litigation.”
Latrice Williams is a general assignment reporter covering Bryan and Effingham County. She can be reached at lwilliams6@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Residents file suit over OpenAI data center approval process
