Pappert: SELC Leveraging Nashville Crayfish to Block Data Center Development

Kaitlin Housler
crayfish

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, argued that the Southern Environmental Law Center’s (SELC) concerns about the endangered Nashville crayfish are part of a broader campaign against data center development, following Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s proposal to use eminent domain to acquire land slated for a DC BLOX data center near the Nashville Zoo.

On Tuesday, The Star reported that O’Connell’s eminent domain proposal followed a letter from the SELC and the Center for Biological Diversity warning DC BLOX that the project could threaten the endangered Nashville crayfish and other protected species.

Speaking during an appearance Wednesday on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pappert noted that the species’ federal conservation status has previously been reviewed, citing government findings referenced in his reporting.

“The Nashville crayfish is apparently a pretty resilient species. In 2020, it was proposed to be delisted, that is, taken off the federal list of endangered species. And in fact, there was a study completed in 2019 that found there was no scenario under which this precious Nashville crayfish did not exhibit, quote, ‘A high degree of resistance to disturbance, indicating the species has a low susceptibility to threats and a high degree of stability.’ That’s from the US Department of Fish and Wildlife. I’m not just pulling that out of thin air,” he said.

Pappert also addressed the SELC’s concerns that noise from the proposed data center could affect animals housed at the Nashville Zoo, arguing that the company’s plans would minimize impacts.

“Now I think this amounts to hocus pocus. The data center has said that they’re going to be using modern technology, modern building materials to minimize light pollution. It’s going to be a low-traffic facility. There might be a handful of people going to work there every day. It’s going to be essentially less of a hazard and a traffic burden and a general burden to the area than if virtually any other type of company bought this land,” he argued.

Pappert further contrasted the proposed data center with the city’s stated alternative use for the property.

“If he puts the fire department there, I think firetrucks are going to make much more noise than a data center hum allegedly will. They’ve, by the way, said they’re going to comply with the city noise ordinances,” he said.

Pappert concluded that the environmental concerns raised in the letter were unpersuasive, arguing that the Nashville dispute fits within what he characterized as a larger organizational effort to oppose data centers.

“Essentially, the SELC is at war with data centers, and they’ll use the Nashville crayfish as their mascot if they need to. That’s my opinion at least,” he said.

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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.

 

 

 

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