Caroline County, VA sits at the epicenter of Virginia's data center corridor. Eight confirmed data center projects are proposed or under construction — including CleanArc (900 MW, $3B, 650 acres, under construction as of November 2025), Amazon Mattameade (1,143 acres, $6B, stalled in lawsuit), and the unidentified Thornberry LLC (1,001 acres — developer identity still concealed from the public). The state's General Assembly killed the moratorium bill (HB1515) in 2026 and the $1.6B annual sales tax exemption remains intact. WATER CRISIS: Caroline County is under Level 3 drought restrictions (June 2026) — no automatic sprinklers, hand watering on alternating days only. Simultaneously, the county is applying for a 49.275 BILLION gallon annual Rappahannock River withdrawal permit (DEQ comment deadline: June 22, 2026). The Board of Supervisors secretly removed 'Industrial Cooling' from that same permit application in a November 14, 2024 closed session — no public hearing was held. One Bowling Green municipal well tested at 40 pCi/L gross alpha radioactivity — nearly 3× the federal legal limit of 15 pCi/L. Source: Fredericksburg Free Press, November 11, 2024. Amazon's Mattameade permit would destroy 691 linear feet of perennial stream (Army Corps NAO-2024-01108). Cory Garrett's 11-acre farm is being condemned via eminent domain for a data center water intake. ENERGY: REC increased its data center load forecast from 3.3 GW to 17 GW in ONE YEAR. REC formally told the SCC (Case PUR-2025-00048) that without a dedicated rate structure, data center infrastructure costs WILL shift to residential members. REC used $1.5M of member equity to create Hyperscale Energy Services LLC — SCC denied the structure (PUR-2025-00178, November 20, 2025) but HES continues to operate. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: Charlie Payne (Hirschler Fleischer) is simultaneously REC's General Counsel AND the rezoning attorney for Amazon, Stack Infrastructure, and others before the same county bodies that regulate REC's territory. He appeared before Caroline County's Planning Commission in 2025 in all three roles simultaneously — confirmed in public PC minutes. Supervisor Clay Forehand publicly stated he spent 15 years doing electrical work in data centers while voting yes on every data center deal. Supervisor Jeff Black is employed by Spotsylvania County Public Schools — Spotsylvania receives 42.5% of Amazon Mattameade tax revenue under an agreement Black voted to approve. Supervisor Nancy Long sits on the Rappahannock River Basin Commission while voting on water permits for the same river. FOIA STONEWALLING: The CleanArc Performance Agreement (FOIA 26-62) was formally stonewalled. The NDA FOIA for all data center NDAs (FOIA 26-64) was closed without producing named documents. The PIRT zoning district (the legal mechanism enabling all by-right data center approvals) was adopted in a BOS meeting whose written minutes are MISSING from the public portal for the entire September–December 2023 period. Sources: SCC docket PUR-2025-00048, PUR-2025-00178; Army Corps permit NAO-2024-01108; Caroline County BOS minutes 11/14/2024; Fredericksburg Free Press 11/11/2024; co.caroline.va.us FOIA portal; Hirschler Fleischer public attorney biography.
This document is a formal response to a public records request regarding the management and maintenance of local water infrastructure. It reveals specific data points on service interruptions and highlights the operational challenges the utility provider has faced. This information is critical for residents to understand the history of system performance and to support arguments for improved infrastructure investment.
View documentThis document is a screenshot of a public Facebook post made by Clay Forehand, the Chairman of the Caroline County Board of Supervisors. The post features a meme and commentary that uses derogatory language to refer to transgender people.
View documentThis document is a formal response to a FOIA request concerning payments made by Caroline County to a company called State of Escape, LLC. It details the dates and staff members responsible for receiving, verifying, and issuing payment for services rendered in December 2025. The record serves as a verification of the county's financial trail for this specific vendor.
View documentThis document contains an invoice from 'State of Escape, LLC' to Caroline County for meeting support services totaling $2,640.00. It includes internal email discussions between a county assistant and the vendor regarding billing adjustments and coordination of equipment setup. This information helps clarify how the county spends its administrative budget on third-party vendors for meeting management.
View documentThis document is a record of public expenditure regarding a contract with 'State of Escape, LLC' for professional video recording services of various Caroline County government meetings. It details a payment of $1,320 for work performed in July 2024 across the Broadband Advisory Committee, Board of Supervisors, and Planning Commission. This provides citizens with transparency into how specific public funds are being utilized for digital recording and archival services.
View documentThis document is a government invoice revealing that Caroline County paid $1,400 to 'State of Escape, LLC' for professional recording services for several public meetings held in May 2022. The internal email correspondence shows how these invoices are submitted and processed for payment by the County Administration. It serves as a record of municipal spending for documentation services of public governmental proceedings.
View documentThis document is a professional invoice from a vendor called 'State of Escape, LLC' for services provided to the Caroline County government in March 2022. It details charges for recording meetings and creating web copies of records, totaling $1,750. This provides a clear look at how taxpayer money is being used for administrative support services.
View documentThis document consists of four invoices from 'State of Escape, LLC' to Caroline County for professional recording services of various government meetings, including the Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission. It details specific charges for meeting recordings and web copies, providing a snapshot of the county's costs associated with documenting public proceedings.
View documentThis document is a formal investigation report from the Virginia Department of Health into brown and discolored water reported by residents of Lake Land’or. It reveals that samples taken from homes confirmed iron and manganese levels significantly above recommended limits, despite the utility's treatment systems appearing functional at the time of the inspection. The state has issued recommendations to the utility to improve system flushing and monitor water tanks more closely to address the recurring sediment issues.
View documentThis document is a formal letter from the Virginia Department of Health to Aqua Virginia, Inc., requiring them to report iron and manganese levels at their Lake Land’Or facility more frequently. The state mandated this change because residents have filed many complaints about discolored water, and internal reviews of water samples back to 2018 showed that iron levels often exceeded safety guidelines. Essentially, this record proves that state regulators are officially tracking persistent water quality problems at this specific location.
View documentThis document is a formal response from the Caroline County Finance Department regarding a public records request about payments to a vendor named 'State of Escape, LLC.' It confirms that the county made a payment for services provided in December 2025 and specifies that no further invoices were submitted for this vendor after January 2026. The response also lists the specific staff members who handled the invoice and payment process.
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