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Updated Oct. 14, 2026

Valara Holdings High Performance Compute Center (also referred to as "Valara" or by its parent company, "NorthMark Strategies") is a data center located in Spartanburg, S.C. The facility is required to receive certain environmental permits from the S.C. Department of Environmental Services (SCDES) before it can begin operations, in addition to other local and state permits from other entities. This webpage has been developed by SCDES as a community resource and will be updated as new information is available.

On Oct.1, 2026, SCDES received a letter from Southern Environmental Law Center requesting additional notice and comment for the second Synthetic Minor Air Construction Permit issued to Valara on September 18, 2026.  According to this letter, additional time for public comment was sought due to a change in certain data (known as an “emission factor”) used by SCDES to estimate Valara’s potential formaldehyde emissions from its natural gas turbines.

The September 2026 air permit issued to Valara was subject to a two-month public notice and comment period prior to issuance, from May 26, 2026 through July 31, 2026. A public meeting and public hearing were held on June 25, 2026 and were attended by over 600 members of the public. The materials placed on public notice included a complete copy of Valara’s draft air permit and accompanying draft Statement of Basis. The purpose of the notice and comment period is to provide the public with the opportunity to review a proposed draft permit and present any concerns, additional information, or other feedback for SCDES consideration before a final decision is issued. 

During the public comment period, SCDES’s Bureau of Air Quality (BAQ) received comments questioning the emission factors initially proposed for estimating Valara’s formaldehyde emissions. Specifically, some comments suggested that the emission factors used by BAQ permitting staff produced an estimate of formaldehyde emissions that was too low. In response to this public input, BAQ permitting staff engaged in further review, resulting in updates to the emission factors used for estimating Valara’s potential formaldehyde emissions associated with the permit. The data used to estimate Valara’s formaldehyde emissions is specifically cited in SCDES's Response to Comments. For potential controlled formaldehyde emissions, the permit applicant identified a study from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), which is publicly available. By way of comparison, BAQ permitting staff also checked the EPRI study data against source test data in SCDES’s possession for other turbines. 

As detailed in the Department’s Response to Comments and Statement of Basis, the updated emission factors are expected to provide a conservative estimate of Valara’s formaldehyde emissions. This means that actual emissions from the facility’s turbines are anticipated to be lower than the facility’s estimated emissions using the updated emission factors. 

The change to formaldehyde emissions estimates based on the EPRI study, as discussed above, did not affect the type of permit being issued or the permit’s applicable limits. The issued permit remains a synthetic minor permit for hazardous air pollutants, like the draft permit. The permit requires Valara to limit its formaldehyde emissions to 10 tons per year (TPY) and its total hazardous air pollutant emissions (of which formaldehyde is one) to 25 TPY. These limits were also included in the draft permit that underwent public notice and are unchanged. In the initial months after the permitted turbines begin operation, Valara will be required to use the EPRI-based emission factor specified in the permit factor to calculate its estimated formaldehyde emissions, as set forth in permit condition B.2. However, within 180 days of startup for the turbines, Valara will be required to conduct source testing for formaldehyde to establish superseding, site-specific controlled emission factors for use in calculating monthly and 12-month rolling sums and verifying compliance with the 10 TPY and 25 TPY permit limits (condition B.28). This source testing requirement to establish a site-specific formaldehyde emission factor was included in both the draft permit and the final permit in September 2026 (with the final permit updated to specify testing across a range of load levels instead of just one). 

SCDES’s decision to use updated emission factors reflects the agency’s meaningful engagement with public concerns raised during the comment period and willingness to make appropriate changes in Valara’s final permit in response to public comments. As a result of the public comment process for Valara, the facility’s air permit now requires the facility to use a more conservative emission factor for estimating its formaldehyde emissions until site-specific source testing is completed, at which point, as originally proposed in the draft permit, site-specific emission factors will be used to calculate emissions and verify compliance with permit limits. There is no legal requirement to open a second public notice and comment period for this change to the final permit as a result of SCDES’s consideration of public comments. Therefore, a second notice and comment period is not being held for the September 2026 Valara permit. 

On Sept. 18, 2026, the S.C. Department of Environmental Services’s (SCDES) Bureau of Air Quality (BAQ) approved a Synthetic Minor Air Construction Permit for Valara Holdings, LLC, to construct and operate 11 simple cycle combustion turbines.  

When a permit application demonstrates the applicant can operate in compliance with all applicable state and federal regulations and within the conditions of the permit written by the agency's technical review staff, SCDES is required by law to issue the permit.

The agency's permitting staff performed a detailed review of the permit application, determined the facility’s ability to operate with all applicable state and federal air quality regulations, and reviewed all of the public comments received during the public comment period, including those presented during the public hearing held on June 25, 2026.  

As a part of SCDES’s standard permitting decision process, all comments received during the public comment period are reviewed and considered before a final permit decision is made. A Memo of Final Decision to Concerned Citizens and Response to Comments — available below — addresses the public comments received.

Final air construction permit documents are available below:

SCDES will continue its regulatory oversight of Valara, as it does for all permitted entities in the state, which includes regular unannounced inspections conducted at the facility, documents and records reviews, and compliance or enforcement procedures that are taken if deficiencies or violations are observed.

A public hearing for a draft Synthetic Minor Air Construction Permit (CP-50000422) for Valara Holdings High Performance Compute Center (also referred to by its parent company, NorthMark Strategies) was held Thursday, June 25, 2026, at 6:45 p.m. at Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium. An availability session was held prior, from 5:30-6:30 p.m.

With the significant community interest in this draft permit, SCDES had extended the public comment period to July 31, 2026. 

All of the comments SCDES receives during a public comment period are reviewed and considered by our permitting staff before a permit decision is made. A written response to the comments received will be provided along with the permit decision. 

Informational materials presented at the June 25 public hearing are available here:

As background on the second Synthetic Minor Air Construction Permit issued to Valara on Sept. 18, 2026, please see below.

On March 4, 2026, Valara submitted an application to SCDES for a second Synthetic Minor Air Construction Permit. The facility is requesting to generate additional onsite electricity using 11 natural gas-fired turbines, and to operate in compliance with new emission limits. 

After receiving and reviewing the permit application and supplemental data and reports, SCDES permitting staff wrote a draft permit and draft statement of basis that are currently available for public review and comment. 

The public comment period for this Synthetic Minor Air Construction Permit began May 26, 2026, and was extended to July 31, 2026.

The public could submit comments multiple ways:

Those wishing to be notified directly by SCDES when a permit decision is made had the opportunity to sign up by emailing SCDES at AirPNComments@des.sc.gov or asking to be notified via ePermitting.

This permit requires the facility to construct and operate in compliance with state and federal air quality regulations, just as the first permit also requires.  

SCDES issued Valara a Synthetic Minor Air Construction Permit (CP-50000316) on Sept. 17, 2025. This permit was for the installation and operation for onsite electricity generated by 24 permanent natural gas─fired 2103 kW generators with selective catalytic reduction and oxidation catalyst air pollution control devices. This air permit also established federally enforceable limits on NOx, CO, VOC, Single HAP and Total Combined HAP. 

The public comment period for that draft permit was July 18 to Aug. 16, 2025. After a full permit application review and consideration of public comments received, SCDES issued the Synthetic Minor Air Construction Permit (CP-50000316) on Sept. 17, 2025.

On April 21, 2026, this permit (CP-50000316) was amended to include 21 temporary natural gas─fired 1500 kW generators. These generators are not allowed to operate when the permanent generators are in operation and cannot remain on site longer than six months.  

All AERMOD air dispersion modeling inputs contain maximum allowable emission rates (by pollutant), stack release parameters, five years of hourly National Weather Service weather data, US Geological Survey terrain data, nearby building information, and receptor points (every 50-100 meters) for where calculations will be made. The model contains mathematical formulas that simulate the release and dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere.  After processing the model, the model outputs contain the predicted pollutant concentrations at ground level for each receptor. Output data can be aggregated into different averaging time periods (hourly, daily, annually) based on the health-based standards. 

  • NO2-1hr Map: The map shows the EPA AERMOD air dispersion model output EPA design value concentrations for the Nitrogen Dioxides (NO2) 1-hour averaging period. The EPA design value concentration is a statistical measure that is consistent with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). For the NO2 1-hour NAAQS, the design value measure is the five-year average of the eighth-high (98th percentile) 1-hr daily maximum concentrations, and this statistic is used to compare to the health-based EPA standard, which is 188 micrograms per cubic meter. Contours show the facility's impact footprint on the surrounding community. A background concentration value of 74 micrograms per cubic meter has been added. Results show that the highest design value concentration is below the EPA health-based standard.
  • PM2.5-Annual Map: The map shows the EPA AERMOD air dispersion model output EPA design value concentrations for the Fine Particulates (PM2.5) annual averaging period. The EPA design value concentration is a statistical measure that is consistent with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). For the PM2.5 annual NAAQS, the design value measure is the five-year average of the annually averaged maximum concentrations, and this statistic is used to compare to the health-based EPA standard, which is 9.0 micrograms per cubic meter. Contours show the facility's impact footprint on the surrounding community. A background concentration value of 7.8 micrograms per cubic meter has been added. Results show that the highest design value concentration is below the EPA health-based standard.
  • Formaldehyde Map: The map shows the EPA AERMOD air dispersion model output concentrations for the formaldehyde 24-hour averaging period. The maximum 24-hour concentration is compared to the state regulation, which is set at 15 micrograms per cubic meter. Contours show the facility's impact footprint on the surrounding community. Results show that the highest design value concentration is below the state-set standard. (There are no federal ambient air standards for formaldehyde.)

 

Informational materials presented at the June 25 public hearing are available here: