Vantage gets DNR permit to use private wells

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources last week approved a permit allowing Vantage Data Centers in Port Washington to operate four wells at its Lighthouse Campus.

However, the permit limits the pumping capacity to 20 gallons per minute for three of the wells and 30 gallons per minute for the other.

Vantage had sought a 60 gpm capacity for the wells, according to its application for the permit.

The firm still needs a permit from the City of Port for the wells — something originally expected to be discussed by the Board of Public Works on Tuesday.

City Engineer Roger Strohm said the permit was taken off the agenda because he’s waiting for additional information from Vantage.

The matter was expected to be taken up along with permits for other wells on city properties. Strohm said the city did not have enough information to take up that issue on Tuesday either.

There are about five other private wells in the city that are operational, he said.

City codes allow property owners to continue to use wells that were in existence before May 1, 2023.

Strohm said Tuesday that Vantage can use the wells on its property even before the permit is considered by the Public Works Board at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 14.

That’s because the wells are existing and will operate at the same capacity as they do today, he said.

Once the city completes the extension of water service to Vantage’s site, the company will be required to hook up to those lines, Strohm said.

Mark Freeman, Vantage’s vice president of global marketing, said recently that the firm plans to use two existing wells to support temporary trailers on the site north of Lake Drive that will be used as offices during construction.

“The existing pumps will remain in place and not be upsized,” he said.

Strohm said one of the wells will be used to service offices for one of Vantage’s general contractors, and Freeman said water from two wells will feed two 6,000-gallon holding tanks with a maximum daily draw of about 12,000 gallons.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average American family of four uses 400 gallons of water a day.

“These wells will be used only for the duration of construction,” he added. “Longer term, site water service will come from city water lines, not from the wells or aquifer.”

According to a DNR spokesman, the wells will run for 18 to 24 months and then be filled and sealed.

Freeman said that Vantage sought the DNR permit because the agency considers all the Vantage-owned wells as one, “not because Vantage expects high-capacity use in practice.”

None of the wells individually meet the definition of a high-capacity well, Strohm said. When the capacity of the individual wells Vantage will operate on the site is totaled, it reaches the definition of a high-capacity well.