A Giant AI Datacenter Was Blocked Near the Everglades. Here's Why It Matters.
Palm Beach County commissioners said no to a massive datacenter called Project Tango in mid-July 2026, but the project's manager said developers are "not giving up." The facility would have been built on a 202-acre (82-hectare) plot in Loxahatchee, Florida, on Donald J. Trump Highway, about 16 miles (26km) west of Mar-a-Lago near the northern edge of the Florida Everglades. The Guardian
This was not a quick decision. County leaders first delayed a vote on the project in December 2025 after residents raised concerns about how much water it would use. They were scheduled to vote on July 15, 2026, and ultimately denied the project. The developers had wanted to turn an older 2016 approval for warehouses and a small server farm into something much bigger: a hyperscale datacenter, the kind of massive computing facility that powers artificial intelligence. That change meant new zoning reviews and more opposition. WPTV
Opponents used both legal and scientific arguments. A lawyer named Christina Reichert, from the environmental law group Earthjustice, is representing neighbors who argue the developers were not allowed to make this kind of change to the old approval. Reinaldo Diaz, who leads a nonprofit called Lake Worth Waterkeeper, warned that the datacenter would release hot water into the surrounding watershed. Warmer water, he says, makes it easier for toxic bacteria to grow in the Everglades wetlands. The Guardian
That worry is not theoretical. On July 30, 2026, the Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County issued a health alert about blue-green algae in Lake Okeechobee, a huge freshwater lake connected to the Everglades. Blue-green algae can produce a toxin that makes people and animals sick and can contaminate drinking water. The alert came just two weeks after commissioners voted on Project Tango. Florida Department of Health
The amount of electricity the datacenter would need makes the stakes even higher. At full capacity, a 600-megawatt datacenter could use as much power as roughly half a million US homes, according to US Energy Information Administration estimates. To put that in perspective, that is like powering a medium-sized city, all from one site at the edge of the Everglades. The Guardian
The Everglades has already been damaged by decades of drainage and development. The federal government and the state of Florida have spent a combined $6 billion trying to restore it. Local environmentalists say a datacenter this large could put that investment at risk, both by using large amounts of water and by releasing heat into the ecosystem. Congressional Research Service
The broader context here is the tension between the fast-growing world of artificial intelligence and the natural limits of where these facilities can be built. AI datacenters need huge amounts of electricity, lots of water to keep their computers cool, and access to the fiber-optic cables that carry internet traffic. Western Palm Beach County had land and old industrial approvals that developers wanted to use rather than starting from scratch. But the same water system that makes the Everglades worth restoring is what makes this location so vulnerable to disruption.
The developers' statement that they are "not giving up" suggests this rejection may not be the end. They could submit revised plans, challenge the county's decision in court, or look for another location. What is still unclear is whether the region's environmental limits, the billions already spent on restoration, and organized local opposition can hold up against the economic and political pressure that comes with these massive projects. The answer will likely affect not just this project but how AI datacenters are built near sensitive natural areas across the United States.
