YPSILANTI TWP, Mich. — Ypsilanti Township residents and leaders are pushing back after the University of Michigan confirmed the location of its planned supercomputing facility.
Watch Tiarra Braddock's report below
U of M and Los Alamos National Laboratory spent months deciding between two possible sites for the proposed $1.2 billion facility — one near Textile and Bridge roads, and the other at the American Center for Mobility, a former World War II industrial site. On Tuesday, the university announced it chose the Textile Road location.
Ypsilanti Township resident Courtney Brady, who lives about 2 miles from the planned facility, said the decision was a blow to the community.
"Honestly, it's devastating," Brady said.
Brady said she believed the American Center for Mobility site would have been a more appropriate choice.
"The ACM site is already a brownfield so ideally that would have been a better location but as the public has said, we don't want it here at all," Brady added.
Ypsilanti Township Supervisor Brenda Stumbo shares Brady's concerns and says she feels U of M has not been transparent with the community.
"We read about the announcement in the newspaper and then 27 minutes later I received a text from the University of Michigan governmental relations and they want to talk to us. That is how they treat our community, our residents, it's like we do not matter," Stumbo said.
Stumbo also raised concerns about the facility's potential environmental impact.
"What do we get, a bunch of computers that heat up the earth, emit things into the atmosphere, take your water and send it though our sewer system in which people don't have enough information about," said Stumbo.
In a statement, U of M said the Textile Road site was the strongest option for the project's needs.
"The Textile Road site emerged as the best location capable of meeting the project's technical and operational requirements, while allowing the university to build responsibly for the future. Already zoned by Ypsilanti Township for light industrial use, the site offers the proximity to electrical and data infrastructure, development flexibility and long-term capacity needed to support advanced research computing while preserving significant natural areas and maximizing separation from neighboring homes and parks."
The township's attorney, Doug Winters, said the community is not backing down.
"It's probably the most devastating decision made by this university that impacts this township and will impact our township for decades to come," said Winters.
U of M will host a community town hall on Sept. 9 to discuss the planned facility with the public.
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