BUTTE, Mont. — Butte-Silver Bow County commissioners approved a sale and purchase agreement with REC Silicon for approximately 628 acres of land that was previously slated to become a data center.
Watch: Land sale and purchase approved
Eight commissioners voted in favor of the agreement at a recent council meeting. It was determined that REC Silicon had first rights to the property adjacent to their facility.
REC Silicon attorney James Bowen said the chemical manufacturing plant needs the land as a buffer zone due to its dangerous production processes.
"We are purchasing it for a buffer zone, buffer land, around our facility as it was intended," Bowen said.
The purchase price of the land is approximately $1,256,000.
Last month, a local activist group sued Butte-Silver Bow County after signatures for a ballot initiative ensuring a public vote on proposed data centers was rejected by the Clerk and Recorder. Citing precedent, a District Court Judge ruled against the group, and their case has been appealed to the Montana Supreme Court.
Separately, Butte-Silver Bow commissioners voted in favor of a temporary moratorium on data centers.
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