Texarkana Homeowners Protest New 500-Acre Data Center Over Noise and Water-Use Concerns

Residents in Texarkana, TX, are fighting back against a proposed data center in their district, marking the latest in a growing number of protests against data center development across the country.

At issue is a planned 500-acre data center campus, called Project Big Pine, announced in April 2026 by the TexAmericas Center, an industrial park on the Texas side of the Texarkana metropolitan area. The Developer Potentia Development aims to establish a hub for data centers and power-intensive industrial users, estimating an investment of $3.5 billion at full buildout.

Data centers typically store and manage digital information used to support software applications, including artificial intelligence systems. There are already around 4,000 in operation around the country.

Proponents say the Texarkana development could create more than 120 jobs and position the community as an emerging tech center.

But many local residents are against the planned project, citing environmental and resource risks, with particular concerns about the project's water consumption.

Growing concern over encroaching data centers

Bowie County has a population of just under 93,000, and Texarkana, a town that sits—quite literally—on the border of Texas and Arkansas, is one of the largest communities in the county with around 36,000 residents.

Danny Lee Proctor is a Texarkana resident and a member of the Bowie Miller County Data Center Opposition Facebook group, which now has more than 2,200 members.

"We found out five weeks ago there was a data center planned for the rural area of Bowie County. Our first meeting, we had 15 people wanting to learn and try to stop it. [At our] second meeting, we had 100, in the third meeting, 130, and in our last meeting, 160 concerned citizens," he tells Realtor.com®.

The group is calling on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to hold a special session on data centers, but the governor has not yet responded to their request.

In June, Abbott released a statement noting: “Data centers must operate in ways that reduce costs for residential electricity customers, do not drain water needed for our communities, and take into consideration the needs of our neighborhoods."

Last month, Abbott floated the idea of a ban on new data centers in rural parts of Texas during a campaign event. But Proctor questions whether the Republican governor plans to follow through.

"Abbott called for a ban on rural Texas Data Centers at a meeting in Bullard, Texas. However, I believe this is simply campaign rhetoric, as he has received millions from Big Tech," Proctor says.  

Environmental and health concerns

As citizens struggle to understand what's happening, they've continued to mobilize. A petition against the project has already garnered roughly 2,000 signatures.

The petition cites several major concerns, including the strain on resources and the noise pollution endemic to these types of projects.

Because of the large number of generators required to keep them running, data centers have been known to emit both high- and low-frequency sounds at over 95 decibels (more than 85 decibels is generally considered harmful to human ears).

Residents living near such centers report chronic and constant ailments, including nausea, headaches, and sleeplessness.

Because data centers require large water reserves to operate, residents are also concerned about the potential strain on the water supply.

The drain on local energy supplies is especially prescient in Texas because it's not on the national energy grid.

“If every approved data center in Texas goes online right now, they will pull nearly 500 gigawatts. That's more than five times our entire grid's capacity," said Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller during a recent appearance on Inside Texas Politics.

Communities around the country are mobilizing against data centers

Texarkana is among dozens of towns across the country challenging the encroachment of data centers into their communities.

Earlier this week, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a statewide moratorium on data centers, citing the strain on resources that current AI data centers cause.

Legislation to limit or ban data centers has been introduced in 14 additional states, though it's failed in six of those states. At the local level, more than 150 cities and towns across 40 states have put bans or moratoriums in place.

Supporters of data center development argue that such bans will put the U.S. dangerously behind foreign adversaries in the race to develop AI, leaving the nation at a technological and economic disadvantage.

However, Proctor and his fellow data center opponents will continue to put pressure on their local leaders.

"We have spoken to our county commissioners and a local city council that has its city limits running up to the border of the site. Both entities have explained there is nothing they can do," he says. "We are getting all types of information to the point it is like drinking from a firehose."