The Cosner Tech Campus data center development in Spotsylvania County isn’t yet operable.
But last year, the project was flagged by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for violations relating to the Virginia Air Pollution Control Law.
Amazon Data Services (ADS) owns and operates the facility, which is still under construction at 3901 Massaponax Church Road.
According to a DEQ notice of enforcement action, the DEQ fined ADS $72,067.80 for violating three conditions of its minor New Source Permit (mNSR) that was issued Oct. 30, 2024, and allows for 186 non-emergency and 15 emergency generators.
The DEQ notice states that, on May 31, 2025, ADS was undergoing commissioning activities as part of the permitted Integration Operational Period (IOP), a designated timeframe — often up to 30 days — during which new equipment or systems are initially started, tested, and connected to existing infrastructure.
During the IOP, a power outage led to the start of non-emergency diesel-powered generators. Each of the generators reached a temperature of 572 degrees but malfunctioned for a portion of the commissioning process.
ADS became aware of the failures, notified DEQ and provided a follow-up report as required by its permit. DEQ determined that because of the failure of the Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) to run upon reaching the requisite temperature, ADS exceeded the permitted hourly nitrogen oxide emission limits.
One condition of ADS’ permit from DEQ is that emissions from running each non-emergency diesel engine generator do not exceed specified limits for nitrogen oxide, particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds.
The DEQ issued a Notice of Violation to ADS for that infraction last Oct. 25. On Dec. 2, ADS provided stack emissions testing results to DEQ for the period of Oct. 1-10. The report indicated that six-minute average opacities during the Visual Emission Evaluations exceeded the required 5% as determined by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The reported opacity for one generator was 5.6%, and a second generator was 6.25% on three separate runs. The generators were retested this past Feb. 16-17. The report on those tests was sent to DEQ on April 15 and noted to be in compliance as part of an inspection report issued on May 11.
The DEQ report may be concerning to area residents because, according to environmentalhealthproject.org, data centers, especially gas-powered data centers, emit significant pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides, methane, volatile organic compounds, and fine particulate matter. According to a September 2025 study from ScienceDirect, these pollutants increase rates of respiratory diseases and cardiovascular conditions, and they elevate cancer risks among nearby communities. A 2025 model from arxiv.com indicates that U.S. data centers in 2030 could cause approximately 600,000 asthma symptom cases and 1,300 premature deaths.
In a statement to the Free Press, an Amazon spokesperson noted that the issue occurred during commissioning, before the company had taken occupancy of the equipment, and wasn’t part of normal operations. The spokesperson highlighted that the issue was “immediately” reported to DEQ and that the equipment is now in compliance.
“During commissioning activities at the Cosner Tech Campus in May 2025, emissions control equipment on three backup generator sets did not perform as expected,” the spokesperson said. “Upon identifying the issue, we notified the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality within the notification window established in our permit, investigated, and implemented corrective actions. We take environmental responsibility seriously and have worked transparently with VDEQ to resolve this matter.”
The Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors approved Cosner Tech — a 1.9-million-square-foot facility across 329 acres — in 2023. Spotsylvania Director of Community Engagement and Tourism Michelle McGinnis, who handles media inquiries for the county, said officials won’t comment on the violation since the county isn’t involved in the case, instead deferring to the DEQ.
Data centers have been a contentious issue in the county for the past few years. The supervisors initially voted to allow them to be constructed by-right in industrially zoned areas, before reversing course earlier this year and requiring a special use permit for all data center projects, eliminating any by-right development.
