03/21/2026, 19:00
IMMEDIATE CALL TO ACTION — On March 13, 2026, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) released a Public Notice regarding Google’s latest expansion request for their data center campus in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Phase III of Google’s Project Zodiac seeks to add three additional buildings in addition to other infrastructure.
According to reporting by Tom Powell from 21Alive News, “We’re talking more than 867,000 square feet total. If all three buildings were the same size, they would each be the size of a large IKEA store just like the one down in Fishers.”
To make room for the buildings, Google intends to destroy and permanently impact local waterways like Adams Ditch and long-standing, naturally occurring, biodiverse wetlands.
“A stream cannot simply be replaced on a different portion on the Google property. The microscopic makeup of soil (or nutrient-depleted dirt) cannot simply be hauled in from elsewhere and support the biological system of this area,” she said through email. “Plants, insects and animals will all be impacted. Even small changes can have outsized impacts to an ecosystem and to the watershed downstream.” — Kimberly Koczan, resiliency coordinator with Earth Charter Indiana
“Those two types of wetlands have different foliage and vegetation, wildlife, environmental needs and impact, hydrology and key functions,” she said through email. “Established, naturally occurring wetlands are self-sustaining ecosystems that provide food and shelter for much needed biodiversity as well as flood control. Google’s proposed man-made, constructed wetlands are a sad excuse and pitiful attempt to recreate what they intend to destroy, and those manufactured wetlands will never perform to the level of long-established natural wetlands.” — Danielle Doepke, local opponent of the Google data center
IDEM is now accepting public comments on Google’s proposal through Friday, April 3, 2026. We must demand a public hearing. According to the Public Notice, “Only comments or information related to water quality or potential impacts of the project on water quality can be considered by IDEM in the water quality certification review process. The request should also state the reason for the public hearing as specifically as possible to assist IDEM in determining whether a public hearing is warranted.”
Email your comments to WaterwaysComments@idem.IN.gov with the IDEM Permit Number WQC001454 in the subject line.
