In August 2025, the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) sued the City of Lakeville over a 152-acre industrial development on the Olam property. The MCEA argued that Lakeville misused the broad Alternative Urban Areawide Review (AUAR) to obscure the site's true purpose as a potential hyperscale data center, thereby avoiding mandatory, rigorous environmental impact studies regarding immense water and energy usage. 
MCEA's Legal Challenge
  • Vague Review: MCEA argued that the city’s environmental review process was overly vague, pointing to land-use codes and noise references in the study that are characteristic of large data centers.
  • Demanding Transparency: The advocacy group argued the review glossed over critical community concerns like high electricity loads and massive water consumption. 
Local Opposition & Community Concerns
  • Resource Strain: Residents and environmental groups raised alarms over the severe resource implications of these facilities, including significant increases in local electricity demand and daily water consumption (estimated at up to 2.5 million gallons per day, although some estimates exceed 4.0 million gallons per day)
  • Citizen Pushback: Across the state, residents have formed coalitions demanding more transparency, a halt to local officials utilizing non-disclosure agreements, and statewide moratoriums on new data center developments. 
The Resolution
  • The City of Lakeville maintained that no data center project had ever been officially submitted, and that the AUAR appropriately assessed reasonably foreseeable light-industrial scenarios. 
  • In late May 2026, a Dakota County District Court judge ultimately dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that Lakeville’s environmental review complied with state law and was legally viable.