Nonprofits Sue Hermantown Over Secret Data Center Project

The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) and the nonprofit Stop the Hermantown Data Center filed a lawsuit on November 5, 2025, against the City of Hermantown and Harmony Group LLC. The legal action seeks to block a proposed 1.8 million-square-foot hyperscale data center known as Project Loon and demands that the city redo its environmental review.

The plaintiffs allege the city violated state law by labeling the facility as a light industrial development in its Alternative Urban Areawide Review to conceal the project's true nature. While the city reportedly knew the site was intended as a data center since September 2024, the nature of the project was not disclosed until October. Opponents argue the current review drastically underestimates the facility's carbon emissions, energy rates, and water consumption.

This lawsuit is the fifth legal challenge to data center environmental reviews in Minnesota within two months and follows a separate petition to the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board that previously paused the project's permits. The City of Hermantown acknowledged the complaint and stated it will conduct the appropriate review and follow the legal process.