VICTORY: Court Ruling Halts Destructive Data Centers Adjacent to Manassas National Battlefield Park

RICHMOND, Va. – Today, the Court of Appeals of Virginia upheld an earlier court ruling voiding land rezoning changes essential to the construction of the Prince William Digital Gateway. These court rulings halt development of the Gateway, a massive, destructive data center project which poses serious threats to nearby Manassas National Battlefield Park.

In January, the National Parks Conservation Association joined the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, Piedmont Environmental Council, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation in filing an amicus curiae brief in this case, in the interest of stopping construction of the Prince William Digital Gateway for good.

The National Parks Conservation Association has long opposed the Prince William Digital Gateway, which, if constructed, would be one of the largest data center complexes in the world. Years of noisy and polluting construction would lead to enormous permanent buildings overshadowing the park’s landscape indefinitely. This project would have ruined the park’s serene atmosphere that nearly half a million visitors flock to every year to escape the hustle of the surrounding area and learn about our nation’s history.

Manassas Battlefield Park, established in 1936, protects the site of two pivotal battles of the American Civil War and provides much-needed green space for local communities in rapidly industrializing Northern Virginia.

In recent years, remains of Union soldiers have been found at the park. In 2021, then-superintendent of the park Brandon Bies called proposals for data centers adjacent to the park “the single greatest threat to the park in nearly three decades.”

Kyle Hart, National Parks Conservation Association Senior Mid-Atlantic Program Manager, released the following statement in response to the court’s ruling:

“No one goes to a national park to see data centers. National park advocates were never going to sit idly by and watch developers build one of the world’s largest data center complexes in the shadow of Manassas National Battlefield Park. This is hallowed ground where thousands of men fought and died in the American Civil War, and we will always rise to protect it.”

“We applaud today’s ruling, which affirms that the Prince William Board of Supervisors did not follow the law in their efforts to fast-track development of this ill-conceived, destructive project. Constructing and operating this massive data center complex would have devastating consequences for this iconic piece of American history and set terrible precedent for heavy industrial development near our national parks.

“It is our sincere hope that developers take this ruling as a sign to reconsider their plans for the Prince William Digital Gateway in favor of alternatives that would not harm America’s most treasured places. Building it here is not an option.”

Emily Thompson, Executive Director of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, said:

“We applaud this ruling. America’s national parks and public lands represent the very best of this nation. Unrivaled in their natural beauty and significance, these vast and glorious spaces of refuge, recreation, and reflection define our history. But just like oil and gas drilling and the recent draconian cuts to essential funding and staff from the National Park Service, the boom in building data centers—which will consume wide swaths of land and devour energy resources—threatens our parks and public lands. This ruling will help prevent this at Manassas National Battlefield Park.”

“This project would have sacrificed more than 2,000 acres of historically significant land around the Manassas National Battlefield Park for the industrial development of one of the largest data centers in the world,” said Elizabeth Merritt, deputy general counsel at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “The Manassas battlefield and its environs have faced repeated development threats over recent decades, but today the courts again made clear that the site must be preserved so that each generation can learn from the complex and multilayered history it holds for the American people. We were pleased to see that the ruling placed special emphasis on transparency, because adequate public notice is critical to ensuring that the public can meaningfully participate in the decision-making process around projects like this in the future.”

Chris Miller, President of the Piedmont Environmental Council, said:

“This is a huge win for local communities, national parks, and the environment. PEC has been concerned about the huge potential impacts of the rezoning of thousands of acres of land adjacent to the Manassas National Battlefield Park and Conway Robinson State Forest, as well as private lands with significant environmental, historic, scenic and cultural resources nearby. PEC provided direct testimony to Prince William County and served as an amicus in this case to highlight those concerns.

“This 2,000+ acre project— one of the largest data center proposals in the world—planned for 37 data centers and 14 substations. The failure to properly notice the public hearings on the proposed development is indicative over a rush to judgement and a failure to adequately assess the impacts on local, regional, state and national resources, ranging from historic and cultural sites to water quality.

“At a minimum, this project would have required two to three gigawatts of power, equivalent to the current energy used by ALL current data centers in Northern Virginia combined. It is important to note that environmental footprint for the energy infrastructure is many times greater, as much as one hundred times greater, than the footprint of the data centers alone.”