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Oregon Blocks Verrus Salem Campus
Coverage from Statesman Journal, Salem Reporter, and others
Verrus proposed a $5.
1 billion, three-building data center campus on roughly 75 acres at Salem’s Mill Creek Corporate Center, but the project remains in early review without a formal land-use application or construction approval. Residents raised concerns about electricity, water, environmental effects, noise, limited permanent jobs, and the use of a nondisclosure agreement. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek terminated a pending sale of 32 acres of state land, while Salem officials began considering stronger data center policies, public engagement requirements, and a possible moratorium.
The biggest update is that Verrus’s Salem project is now framed as still early and unresolved, with no formal land-use or building approval yet, while the state land-sale fight has advanced to an actual termination order. Salem’s response also appears more organized, shifting from general concern to active consideration of new controls and policy tools.
The story has broadened from a single pending Salem campus review into a wider Oregon data center policy fight, driven by a governor-ordered land-sale cancellation and new municipal restrictions under consideration. At the same time, construction on Sabey’s Umatilla campus confirms the sector is still expanding even as Salem scrutiny intensifies.