Remarks to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Northern Regional Office: April 6, 2023 My name is Bill Wright and I live in Gainesville. DEQ's website states its mission “is to protect and enhance the environment of Virginia in order to promote the health and well-being of the Commonwealth's citizens, residents, and visitors in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.” At no time during the discussion of your proposed variance to permit data centers to operate their noxious diesel generators during peak periods of electrical demand did I see any evidence of DEQ’s interest in protecting the health and well-being of Virginians. Your focus was strictly on how to accommodate electrical utilities and the data center industry, whose overreach and poor planning are responsible for the crisis you are trying to address. Virginia already has a Department of Commerce and Trade to advocate for business interests. Did you conflate their mission with yours? ...