Why Webster County is High risk
Score calculated from four factors: power infrastructure, water capacity, land availability, and current exposure (known projects in the county). Webster scores 61/100.
Liberty Utilities service territory. Adjacent power substation is the key siting factor for the Rifle Range Road site.
Ozark aquifer (karst) and Niangua River. No statewide groundwater allocation. Rural wells vulnerable to drawdown.
Abundant rural farmland. No planning and zoning — no regulatory barrier to development.
Rumored project (ARY Investments). No formal filing but land purchased adjacent to substation.
The facts, as filed.
Why Webster County is different — and more vulnerable.
Webster County has no planning and zoning ordinance. This means the county commission has no jurisdiction over how land is used. There is no public hearing requirement, no zoning review, and no county oversight of what gets built on private land. A data center could be constructed without any formal approval process.
County Commissioner Paul Ipock told KY3 that commissioners didn’t learn about the proposed data center until a resident posted about it on Facebook. Commissioner Dale Fraker confirmed the county has received inquiries but has no legal mechanism to regulate it.
This lack of zoning protection puts Webster County in a uniquely vulnerable position compared to counties like Jefferson, Jackson, or Franklin, where developers must go through formal zoning and public hearing processes — processes that have given residents in those counties the opportunity to organize opposition. In Festus, that opposition led to every incumbent council member being ousted. In Webster County, residents don’t even get a hearing.
How we got here.
For residents near Rifle Range Road.
Water
Webster County draws its water from the Ozark aquifer and the Niangua River basin. The Ozark aquifer is a karst system — water moves through fractured limestone, making it vulnerable to contamination and difficult to remediate. A hyperscale data center drilling deep wells could draw down the water table that residential wells depend on. Missouri has no statewide groundwater allocation system.
Noise
Hyperscale data centers operate 24/7 industrial cooling systems that generate continuous low-frequency noise. Webster County has no noise ordinance. Residents near Rifle Range Road would have limited legal recourse.
Property values
Resident Aaron Quella told KY3: “What’s it going to do to our home values? What’s it going to do to our livestock? What’s it going to do for our kids? Knowing that it could be coming on my back door is a frightening thing.”
What you can do
Advocate for planning and zoning ordinances — the single most powerful tool. Contact commissioners Paul Ipock, Dale Fraker, and Randy Owens directly. Sign the Change.org petition. Send an opposition letter.
Reporting we relied on.
Webster County has no zoning. Written opposition is the only formal record.
Without planning and zoning laws, the county commission has no legal authority over land use — but they do hear from constituents. Get on record now. We research your commissioners, write a letter citing Missouri Sunshine Law and the rumored project details, and email it directly.
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More on what data centers mean for Missouri residents
- Water usage & aquifer impact
- Well water contamination
- Your Ameren / Evergy bill
- Industrial noise & decibels
- Property value impact
- Health risks & air quality
- Is one near my home?
- HOA & deed restrictions
- Selling a home near a data center
- How to find a proposal
- County commission hearings
- Writing a public comment letter
- How communities stop data centers
- Data centers coming to Missouri
- What is a hyperscale data center?