Emergency panel wants responder study, battery data for AI data center near Cochise

BISBEE, Ariz. — The Cochise County Local Emergency Planning Committee on Thursday, Nov. 12, recommended that county planners require a study of local first responders' capabilities and a facility-specific emergency plan for a proposed supercomputer and artificial intelligence data center campus. The project would sit on about 747 acres along U.S. Highway 191 south of Cochise, outside any fire district, and would include a large battery energy storage system.

The committee approved six recommendations on special use application SU26-22 by voice vote, with no opposition heard. Six of the committee's nine members were present, enough for a quorum.

The recommendations call for:

a capability assessment of local first responders
more information on the battery energy storage system
a hazard-specific emergency operations plan for the facility
a fire subscription agreement with the local fire district
committee access to the site for visits
access for the local fire department and the committee for area orientation and facility-specific training

The chair said the minutes would also note that the applicant's representatives agreed during the meeting to pay for a study of the project's effects on the county.

The chair stressed that the committee is advisory. It does not approve or deny projects. Its recommendations go to the Development Services Department and the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Hearing set for Dec. 9

Matthew Taylor, the county's planning division manager, laid out the process. The land is zoned RU-4, a rural designation, and the application is not a rezoning. The site is about 3 miles north of the Sunsites-Pearce Fire District and lies within no fire district.

The application was submitted Oct. 30, and a community meeting was held Nov. 4 at the elementary school in Cochise. The staff report and supporting material will be published Dec. 2. Taylor said that material will likely run several thousand pages. The Planning and Zoning Commission's public hearing is Dec. 9. Taylor said that because of "unprecedented interest," the hearing's start was moved from 4 p.m. to 2 p.m. The project will follow two other items on that agenda.

Taylor said requirements in the county's data center standards, adopted earlier this year, are mandatory whether or not they appear as special conditions. Those include water use plans, emergency response plans and decommissioning plans. He said the county can add conditions to the special use in the next two to three weeks or later through a development agreement.

Applicant says it will handle its own emergencies

Company representatives for SpaceX spoke by video. One said the site would use Tesla Megapack battery units designed to meet National Fire Protection Association code 855. The representative said the units would be spaced so that a fire "would be impossible" to spread from one battery module to the next.

The representative said the company would supply all fire suppression and emergency response personnel and equipment itself. "We are not asking for any of the fire protection districts or the fire districts to provide these resources for us," the representative said.

The company would also welcome subscription or automatic aid agreements with fire districts and would pay those districts' assessments, the representative said. Terms would be set in a development agreement.

Exact staffing is still being engineered. The representative estimated about 10 medical professionals on site during construction and 20 to 30 fire suppression personnel, with staff on site around the clock.

The representative said "there's not technically any hazmat on the site." The main chemical would be propylene glycol antifreeze in a closed-loop cooling system, with full containment in the slab. Another company representative said the data halls would use a clean-agent gas suppression system, FK-5-1-12, commonly sold as Novec, backed by pre-action sprinklers.

Questions over reporting authority

The second representative said battery systems are generally treated as industrial equipment rather than reportable chemical quantities. That representative said they did not believe a safety data sheet exists for the battery product.

Daniel Duchon, the county's emergency management director, said the committee's authority to request information and make site visits comes from Tier II reportable chemicals. Without reportable quantities, he said, the committee may lack that authority. The chair said his understanding was that propylene glycol is Tier II reportable.

The applicant's representative said any reportable chemical would be reported and quantities would be set during permitting.

The chair said thermal runaway in battery storage was a concern and that he knew of no agency in the county able to handle such a fire alone. "That's why firefighters and police officers exist is for the impossible," the chair said. He noted that 60 mph winds are not uncommon in that part of the valley. He also said a single highway serves as the only way in and out of the area.

Fire chief flags construction surge

Levi Garner, chief of the Sunsites-Pearce Fire District, said the district provides ambulance service in the area. Peak construction could bring more than 5,000 workers, which he compared to adding the city of Benson. He called construction the riskiest phase.

Garner recommended a signed contract with local responding agencies before building permits are issued. He also called for equipment such as water tenders and possibly a ladder truck, citing 40-foot buildings and limited water on site during construction.

A sheriff's office representative raised concerns about staffing for traffic and evacuation in a hazardous materials response. Duchon said the facility would need its own threat-specific plan. He said the committee typically hires a contractor with grant funds for such work but has no grant available now. The chair estimated the process would take at least six months, and realistically a year. Garner suggested the company pay for a study of the project's effects on the county, and the representative agreed.

Tom Crosby, vice chairman of the Board of Supervisors, asked whether split votes on the Planning and Zoning Commission are unusual. Taylor said the commission routinely votes unanimously but has also split 8-1, 7-2 and occasionally 6-3. Crosby said that to his knowledge nothing is forced through the commission or the board.

Residents line up against project

About two dozen people spoke during the call to the public, in person and online. Nearly all opposed the project.

Several said the application posted online kept changing without explanation. One said a battery storage installation of 24 gigawatt-hours appeared only in the second version. That speaker cited a plan on page 45 for 2,520 battery units on 17 acres and questioned whether the numbers added up.

An emergency room nurse said the nearest Level I trauma center is about 50 miles away by air. The nurse said the rural hospitals in Willcox and Benson have limited trauma capability.

A speaker who said she works as an environmental noise analyst said each Megapack produces about 90 decibels of sound power. She urged that a noise study be required now rather than later.

Another speaker called for Tier II reporting as a condition of approval, a fire response agreement before batteries arrive, baseline air, water and soil testing, and company-funded firefighter training. Other residents raised groundwater depletion, harm to wintering sandhill cranes, views from the Chiricahua Mountains and the county's capacity to fight lawsuits.

Also discussed:

The committee approved minutes of its Sept. 17 meeting.
The next meeting is set for 1:30 p.m. Dec. 17 in Douglas, location to be determined.

This report was drafted by Claude Opus 5.5 from a live transcript produced by Deepgram Nova-2, then reviewed and edited by Nicholas De Leon with Claude Opus 5.5, and published at 3:35 PM MST on November 12, 2026. Read more about how this is made.