The city of Umatilla in eastern Oregon has declared a local state of emergency over the state permit pause on new data centers, the first municipal emergency of its kind over a permitting decision. The council adopted Resolution 15-2027 on October 20, after Governor Tina Kotek directed the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to pause processing air and water discharge permits for new or expanding data centers through July 1, 2027. The resolution, to be reviewed in 90 days, calls for immediate reconsideration of the directive and authorises the city manager to coordinate with affected governments and legal counsel on administrative and judicial remedies.
The city’s case is fiscal, and it now has figures. City staff estimate the pause puts more than 2.5 million dollars in annual tax payments and 12 million dollars in water infrastructure improvements at risk, alongside contributions toward a bond for a new police station, and city manager Dave Stockdale told the council that prolonged uncertainty could postpone, relocate or cancel planned private investment, delaying revenues and jobs by two years or more. Neighbouring Hermiston’s city manager said Amazon had cancelled plans for multiple projects there and estimated about 550 million dollars in anticipated future local fee revenue lost.
Umatilla’s exposure is concentrated: the area hosts four operating facilities, one under construction and two more planned, with Sabey and Amazon Web Services present, and local reporting puts more than 20 data center projects operating or in development in the county, roughly a fifth of the state’s sector. Oregon law expressly allows cities to declare an emergency over financial loss, and other Oregon cities are moving the other way: Hillsboro, which hosts 21 sites, imposed its own 120 day land use pause in July.
The state level fight is now a revenue fight, not only an environmental one. Texas suspended 17 data center permits this week, covered on this site yesterday, and Oregon’s pause runs to July 2027.