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Data Center Watch Report · ZIP 29574

Mullins

Marion

Rejected/withdrawnZIP 57.1% Blackpop 9,383

Withdrawn — the "Project Liberty" data center approved by Marion County Council Jan 22, 2026 was cancelled by the developer June 11, 2026. No facility built.

Researched: 2026-08-02 · Lead source: Brockovich AI Data Center community map (1 resident report, 2026-05-28) · ZIP demographics: 57.1% Black, pop 9,383 (Census ACS 2023) · County: Marion (~56% Black) Status: Withdrawn — the "Project Liberty" data center approved by Marion County Council Jan 22, 2026 was cancelled by the developer June 11, 2026. No facility built.

This report is research, not legal, financial, real-estate, or investment advice.

0. Snapshot

Mullins shares its county — and the same proposed data center — with the city of Marion. "Project Liberty," a $2.4–$2.5 billion Stream Data Centers campus, was slated for ~400+ acres in the Marion County Industrial Park off the U.S. 501 Bypass, between Marion and Mullins. Marion County Council approved the incentive ordinance 6–1 on Jan 22, 2026 after running all three readings through in about two weeks during a snowstorm, with every council member under a nondisclosure agreement that kept "data center" off the public agenda. The developer withdrew June 11, 2026, citing an inability to source utility power in time. For Mullins residents the finding is the same as for Marion: the deal was built to move before the town could react — and it was aimed at a majority-Black rural county. (Full detail is in the companion report marion-sc-29571.md; this file covers the Mullins-side angle.)

1. The Facility & Where It Sits

  • Developer: Stream Data Centers (Dallas), via a Delaware shell reported as Eagle Myra, LLC, code name "Project Liberty."
  • Scale: ~$2.4–2.5B full build (reported ~$800M first phase); ~400–407 acres in the Marion County Industrial Park.
  • Location: off the U.S. 501 Bypass between Marion and Mullins. Mullins (29574) is the northeast Marion County town closest to the corridor; the site is rural/unincorporated county land, not inside Mullins city limits.
  • Status: Withdrawn June 11, 2026 (utility power could not be sourced in the required timeframe). No construction occurred.

2. Public Hearings & Notices

  • Jan 6 → Jan 22, 2026 — incentive ordinance cleared all three readings in ~two weeks; agenda listed only "Project Liberty"; council members signed NDAs.
  • Jan 22, 2026 — final reading 6–1, during a rare snowstorm.
  • Late February 2026 — two packed public meetings.
  • June 11, 2026 — developer withdrew.
  • Marion County Council (not the City of Mullins) held the vote. City of Mullins meets 2nd Tuesday, 6:00 p.m. Verify agendas via the contacts in §8.

3. Power

The project died on power: Stream said utility power could not be sourced on the site in time. Serving utility for the industrial park was not publicly confirmed (the Pee Dee is broadly Duke Energy Progress / cooperative territory). Not found as of 2026-08-02. Statewide, Santee Cooper's April 2026 experimental large-load rate makes 50 MW+ customers pre-pay for grid upgrades, and the legislature debated data-center power demand through 2026.

4. Water & Drought

No public water source, permit, or gallons-per-day figure was released before cancellation. Not found as of 2026-08-02. Drought: Marion County was downgraded from moderate to "incipient" drought in July 2026 after rain; ~83% of SC was in drought in early July 2026.

5. Population & Who Lives Here

ZIP 29574 is 57.1% Black, population 9,383 — the Mullins side of a ~56% Black Marion County. Mullins is a former bright-leaf tobacco market town with a historic downtown district and a long post-industrial slide; its residents were, like Marion's, kept out of the Project Liberty decision by NDA and timing — the environmental-justice concern this pin captures.

6. Money — Abatements, Incentives, Jobs

  • County Council approved a FILOT and related incentives for Eagle Myra/Project Liberty; exact multi-year dollar values were not published before the project collapsed. Not found as of 2026-08-02.
  • Developer claims: ~60 permanent jobs and ~$28 million/year in tax revenue at full build.
  • Withdrawn, so no incentives paid; Stream said committed community-benefit funds (after-school, library) would still be distributed.

7. Community Reaction & News Coverage

Local/regional: Post and Courier (Pee Dee), WMBF, WPDE, Spectrum News, Carolina Ecology; Capital B News nationally. Opposition: the United People Project and "STOP the Data Center — Marion County SC" Facebook group. Core grievance: secrecy — NDA, snowstorm timing, three-reading sprint.

8. Find Out For Yourself

Marion County Council (held the vote) — 2523 East Highway 76, Marion, SC 29571 (PO Box 183); Clerk to Council (843) 431-5059; meetings streamed on Facebook (confirm schedule). Ask for the Project Liberty / Eagle Myra ordinance, FILOT terms, and NDA. City of Mullins — Municipal Complex, 151 East Front Street, Mullins, SC 29574 (PO Box 408); (843) 464-9583; City Council meets 2nd Tuesday, 6:00 p.m. Agendas/minutes: mullinssc.us. SC PSC / Office of Regulatory Staff — psc.sc.gov ; ors.sc.gov (large-load dockets, ratepayer impact).

Questions worth asking:

  1. Is the industrial-park land still being marketed to data centers, and who is the serving utility?
  2. Will Mullins be notified — and given a hearing — before any successor project is approved by the county?
  3. What FILOT terms did Project Liberty receive, and would a new tenant inherit them?
  4. What water source/volume would a data center on that site need, given recurring drought?
  5. How many permanent (not construction) jobs would any replacement actually guarantee?
  6. Where do the committed community-benefit funds go, and who decides?

9. If You're Thinking About Moving Here

No data center is being built near Mullins as of 2026-08-02 — Project Liberty was cancelled. The open questions are whether the site is re-marketed, whether regional large-load power costs reach Pee Dee ratepayers, water reliability in drought, and whether the county changes how quietly it can approve a mega-deal. Weigh those against Mullins' low housing costs and small-town character. All unresolved as of 2026-08-02.

10. Sources

Lead source: resident reports on the Brockovich AI Data Center community map, then independently verified against public records. Research, not legal, financial, real-estate, or investment advice. Some resident-reported pins remain uncorroborated and are labeled as such above.