Judge halts 950,000-square-foot California AI data center pending environmental review

Sebastian Rucci’s proposed AI data center in California’s Imperial County cannot proceed until it clears an extensive environmental review. A county judge imposed that requirement in September, the Guardian reported October 17. Its account details how a plan promising jobs and tax revenue became a neighborhood fight over water, electricity, pollution and who gets a say.

A desert site with a faster permitting path

Rucci identified the site in late 2024: 75 acres in unincorporated Imperial County, beside farmland and homes near the city of Imperial. His proposal calls for roughly 950,000 square feet of data-center space. The project’s umbrella company is Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing.

The land’s industrial zoning allowed Rucci to apply for an exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act, the state’s environmental review law. That offered a route around the usual environmental permitting process. He also worked with the local energy provider to secure access to 330 megawatts of electricity.

The application describes more than a building full of servers. It includes an electrical substation, on-site battery storage and more than 130 methane-gas-fueled generators. Rucci says the development would bring more than 1,600 construction jobs and nearly $30 million in annual tax revenue. Those are his projections, not benefits already delivered.

A flyer turns neighbors into organizers

Resident Francisco Leal learned about the proposal from a flyer left at his home the day before Thanksgiving in 2025. His back fence separates his property from Rucci’s land. Leal lives within Imperial’s city limits, while the proposed facility sits outside them on county land.

He began texting neighbors that day. Meetings and rallies followed, and close to 3,500 people signed a petition opposing the facility within months. Residents told the Guardian they feared increased emissions, pressure on electricity and water supplies, damage to wildlife and persistent noise. Rucci denies the project would have those effects.

The setting gives those objections particular weight for residents. Imperial County draws its water from the Colorado River. The region also provides habitat for the endangered desert pupfish, which lives in agricultural drains and canals like one crossing Rucci’s property. Neighbors described worries about adding industrial pollution to existing air-quality problems.

Opposition moved beyond petitions. More than half a dozen lawsuits were filed over the past year, alongside recall efforts targeting local officials who supported the project. A temporary, 45-day data-center moratorium was also approved. September’s ruling left the development paused rather than permanently rejected.

This project was presented as a Noah’s Ark that’s going to come save everybody

Francisco Leal, a neighboring resident, speaking to the Guardian

Google interest is not a tenant agreement

One part of Rucci’s pitch remains disputed. In a July email to county planning officials, he said the facility would enable Google to train its Gemini AI models. In August, he told the county’s air pollution control district that he had secured Google’s interest in the project.

Google told the Guardian it is not involved in a data-center project in Imperial County. Rucci acknowledged there is no formal agreement and said that explained the company’s response. His account of interest therefore does not amount to a confirmed Google tenancy or a committed Gemini training site.

Rucci says he has already invested about $5 million. His intended business is to assemble the permits and plans, then pass the approved project to a builder for a return. For now, that handoff depends on clearing the environmental review the judge has required.