Every morning on my drive to school, I see a biker, jogger, or car going up the winding entrance lined with greenery to Eagle Creek Park. But lately I’ve noticed something else: signs in almost every yard and at street corners, lining the roads leading up to the park entrance with demands such as, “Leave Eagle Creek Alone!” “Save our Water!” and ” Save our Homes!” When I began doing my own research and looking further into the need for such forms of protest, my growing perception of a shift away from nature and community towards a favoring of technology and the wealthy elite was, in fact, confirmed.

What is the Situation?

In 2024, Citizens Energy Group drafted a deal that would involve sending mass amounts of water to Lebanon Utilities (the LEAP district). The LEAP district includes manufacturing facilities, semiconductor chip factories, and data centers, with plans to add a new massive Meta data center worth 10 billion dollars to the center of the area in the works. Water is the necessity at the core of supporting this tech-heavy location. The plan that was drafted in 2024 is coming to fruition as of late, and it details that Citizens Energy will send 2 million gallons of water a day to LEAP by 2027, working its way up to 10 million by 2028, and eventually reaching 25 million by 2031. This water is planned to be drawn from not only the Citizens Energy water systems but also the Eagle Creek Reservoir. To combat this major loss to the reservoir’s water supply, Lebanon Utilities claims they will treat the water and send it back to the park. While this may appear to be an acceptable solution, many members of the community are fearful about how this dumping of used water will affect the substantial amount of wildlife that know the park as their home. In addition to the threat to wildlife habitats, the project will also affect many people’s living situations. The way that most people in the area caught wind of the plan was through letters sent to their homes informing them that, due to the location of their home, they would be facing forced easements or even eminent domain, since their property is in the way of the 52-mile-long pipeline.

The Community’s Reaction

This passionate opposition against the project stems from the connection that so many in the area feel towards the park. Eagle Creek Park has been around since 1972, meaning that it has had nearly 5 decades to be the foundation for so many memories. When I talked to people in my area about what the project means to them, the answers that I received made the joy this park instills in its visitors apparent. One individual mentioned how his first memories at Eagle Creek go all the way back to his college years, when he and his friends used to go for hikes on time off from school, and now he ventures these same paths with his husband and kids. Another person mentioned how the park served as a distraction for her son, when that morning, he wasn’t allowed to participate in the sport he loved due to anti-trans laws surrounding sports participation being passed. What I heard in every response was the term “escape”. The park serves as an area for the community to get away to a place that feels welcoming in these times of uncertainty, and it’s heartbreaking to think that now even the future surrounding the park implants a similar sentiment into the neighborhood.