On January 13th, 2026 Birmingham City Council met to consider a moratorium (a temporary suspension or delay of a specific activity, law, or obligation) on a proposed data center planned for the city. This comes right after Project Marvel, a massive data center approved in Bessemer that raised concerns about how these projects are being defined, approved, and shared with the public.
Project Marvel was approved as a light industrial development, despite its enormous scale. Once fully built, it is expected to span roughly 4.5 million square feet across 18 buildings on 700 acres, (often compared to the size of 18 Walmart Supercenters). It is estimated to cost $14 billion to build over the next eight years and will require vast amounts of electricity and water to operate. While developers have been unclear about specific environmental impacts, the potential infrastructure of Project Marvel was not what residents considered “light.”
In November 2025, the Bessemer City Council voted to approve Project Marvel following public hearings and legal challenges, allowing the project to move forward despite widespread concern from community members and environmental advocates. That decision is now serving as a cautionary example for Birmingham.
The proposed Birmingham data center is still in the very early planning stages, but it is already raising red flags. Like Project Marvel, it is also being proposed as light industrial. Classifying it as such often minimizes public scrutiny and doesn’t speak to the true scale and potential environmental impact. This matters. Zoning decisions often influence community input and environmental protections put in place for surrounding neighborhoods.
From Alabama Rivers Alliance
Data centers also pose a threat to clean air. To energize these data centers, many rely on fossil fuels, leading to high emissions of harmful pollutants like nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. We already know Birmingham is plagued with harmful industrial pollution this could worsen respiratory conditions and increase health disparities.
During today’s meeting, our Community Science and Research Coordinator, Zion Sharpe, spoke before the council to urge them to consider the moratorium as to not move forward too soon and learn from Bessemer’s experience.
Representatives from the Alabama Rivers Alliance, the People’s Justice Council, and the Southern Environmental Law Center also addressed the council, adding concerns related to environmental oversight, transparency, and public health. While the council initially proposed a nine month moratorium to allow time for research and community engagement, the final decision shortened that period to six months, or 180 days, leaving even less time to fully assess the risks.
If nine months was deemed necessary to understand the impacts of a development like this, six months only heightens the urgency for public involvement.
This moment presents an opportunity for Birmingham to slow down, ask harder questions, and ensure that large scale projects are evaluated honestly and transparently. That only happens when residents show up.
We are encouraging community members to attend city council meetings, prepare public comments, and contact local council members to express concerns about zoning, clean air, water use, and long term environmental impacts. We will also be hosting community listening sessions to help residents feel prepared and supported when speaking at public meetings in the upcoming months.
Birmingham does not have to repeat Bessemer’s mistakes. But avoiding them will require continued community engagement, accountability, and a clear understanding of what is truly being proposed.
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