A few weeks ago Mike Heisey, the manager of the Bonner Mill site, gave me a tour. I took Mike up on the offer because I wanted to know more about the data center project being proposed by Krambu that had locals freaking out. I also wanted to understand the strange feelings growing inside of me, like weird wisps of sympathy for the owners of private property that I was starting to experience.
What was happening to me?
Before I disclose what I learned about the Bonner Mill site and the data center project being proposed by Krambu, let’s take a look at Paul Barmore and his anti-Data Center petition that KPAX reported on a few days ago:
Artificial intelligence (AI) data centers have been a controversial topic across the country.
As we’ve reported, one is proposed for Bonner at the industrial park.
In response, a Missoula resident has started a petition opposing the proposal.
As of April 29, it has garnered nearly 700 signatures.
“I don’t really see any argument that’s positive for this, any argument to convince me, ‘Hey, this actually is going to improve the area’. I believe that they’re here to take,” petition organizer Paul Barmore said.
Paul Barmore isn’t seeing anything positive because, like most people, he doesn’t understand how the media actually functions in this country. That’s why part III of AMERICA UPSIDE DOWN dealt specifically with local media’s ability to control narratives by showing how that power is deployed to HIDE certain stories from the public, like the extent of damage that “urban camping” has on the environment.
Here’s a visual reminder of what our local media has been downplaying for years:
As an artist who makes fly-fishing sculptures, I’m willing to bet Paul Barmore wouldn’t appreciate how “urban campers” trash our rivers. Paul might even be the kind of Missoulian who has shown up for the Clark Fork river cleanup, held annually by the Clark Fork Coalition, but no longer the kind of BIG event it used to be.
I wonder why?
For more media-induced ignorance, let’s continue reading the KPAX article about WHY Paul Barmore, born outside Bozeman, is pushing his petition on Bonner locals:
“I’m not against AI in general. I’m against the result of these data centers and the effect they’ve had on communities,” Barmore said.
“The data center being what, 60 yards away from the river, you know that that groundwater will eventually seep into the river,” he continued.
Ok, Paul, let’s talk about water, starting with a VERY POSITIVE fact about the Bonner Mill site I learned from Mike Heisey: the grandfathered discharge permit from the Stimson Lumber mill NO LONGER EXISTS, and it no longer exists because Mike Heisey gave it up.
For those who don’t understand the significance of this, it’s like giving up 10 liquor licenses, or giving away a claim to a gold mine with a surefire deposit.
“DEQ thought I was crazy,” Mike told me as we stood in the giant warehouse where Krambu’s initial build-out will, if granted, be taking up a very minimal footprint.
“Did you ever get credit for giving up the permit in local media?” I asked Mike, immediately understanding how giving up this permit was an incredible gift to the future health of the Blackfoot river by purposely limiting the types of future industry that could operate on this private land.
“No,” Mike replied in answer to my question.
The very stupid idea expressed by Paul Barmore, then amplified by KPAX like it’s true, that “groundwater will eventually seep into the river“, was further undermined as Mike and I discussed poop/pee ratios for septic systems and the expertise Mike begrudgingly acquired when one of the septic tanks didn’t have enough employees in one of the warehouses shitting into it.
Why was this a problem? It was a problem because winter is cold, pee freezes, and frozen pee is VERY BAD for septic systems. Mike learned this the hard way, and he shares what he had learn with ALL the occupants of the Bonner Mill site, including companies like Zombie Tools, Posh Chocolate, and the Kettlehouse.
What do you think about THAT, artist Paul?
If it’s starting to sound like I have an agenda here, let me assure Zoom Chron readers that YES I DO! And that agenda is centered on monetizing my unique skillset by carving out a job for myself the could kill a whole flock of birds at the same time, like public ignorance on important issues, actual river threats from urban camping, the responsibility of private property to insulate their investments from retarded public policies, and the weird inaction by the law, like the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office, when it comes to THEIR job, which is, you know, enforcing the law.
What MY job could be, if paid in hybrid form by the Bonner community AND the Bonner Mill site, would be this: a PUBLIC/PRIVATE LOBBYIST (PPL) hired to go to where the REAL fight over the “data center” will be, and that’s the Public Service Commission once the election dust clears.
For one of the better local articles about the upcoming energy fight, which starts with Missoula County’s effort to stop all large-load projects in the County with their legally untested “new, renewable” requirement, here’s Martin “Gomer” Kidston doing his thing at the Missoula Current:
Krambu announced its intent to place a data center at the former Bonner mill site earlier this year The first phase of the project would likely need around 1 megawatt of power, the company’s owner has said.
Under county zoning rules adopted roughly seven years ago, crypto mining and data centers are required to develop or purchase “sufficient renewable energy to offset 100% of the electricity consumed by the operation.”
Svein Newman, the county’s climate action program manager, said in order to meet the condition, Krambu must establish that their actions will introduce new renewable energy onto the electrical grid beyond what would have been developed otherwise.
“An applicant has the right to propose whatever compliance path they want to. It’s up the county to assess whether or not that proposal complies,” said Newman. “At this time, the proposed data center hasn’t told us how they propose to comply. They’ve told us they’re aware of the requirement and they’re trying to figure out how to comply.”
Downstream of the Blackfoot, the private property problems from “urban camping” on either end of Reserve Street (Buckhouse bridge and the Snowbowl parking lot) are problems I believe I have a solution for, and the proof is what NO LONGER EXISTS under and around the Reserve Street bridge. Imagine what I could do with some sweet Krambu data center money?
The bigger picture framing of water, energy, and the general health of the environment–where kids are weaponized to fight “climate change” for the financial benefit of lawyers and the ideological benefit of Democrats–is a framing I’ve already been critical of in its juxtaposition with what’s happening near rivers because of drug and alcohol abuse at “urban camps”, so who would be better than me to step into the gap (for a paycheck) between private property rights/responsibilities, and the low-information public getting ready to flood Bonner, Montana, to fight the next boogeyman their smart phones are telling them to fight?
Staying open-minded on this Krambu proposal doesn’t mean I support the massive disruptions already underway because of “AI”. What I’m trying to do is make some reality-based distinctions between “AI” in the abstract, and the reality of a local process involving private property and local government.
The abstract concept of “AI”, brought into existence by the evil “data center”, could be a great scapegoat to protect the HUMANS at the top of society, working to reshape it for their sole benefit, but only if we let it. For now, I’m going to recognize that Krambu isn’t Palantir, Steve Wood isn’t Peter Thiel, and no one but the Amish can avoid hypocrisy when criticizing technology.
Thanks for reading!
