10/28/2026
Did you know OpenAI has to fill 72 acres of Georgia wetlands to build its next data center?
Near Rincon, Effingham County: 4 buildings, 183 acres at the Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub. The park's original permit only allowed 22 acres of wetland fill. OpenAI's affiliate needs 72, so it needs a federal Clean Water Act permit. Public comments close November 4.
Why there? Power. The application says the site search started with one thing: a substation big enough, close enough, fast enough.
AI companies are not shopping for buildings anymore. They are shopping for power and land, hundreds of acres at a time. Own land near transmission lines in Georgia? Your phone should be ringing.
Permit application SAS-2026-00872.