The chair of the powerful Utah board that approved the development of a massive data center in Box Elder County now says celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary’s hyperscale data center plan is too large and needs greater environmental oversight.

“I’ve sent a letter directly to Kevin O’Leary calling for a 75% reduction in the proposed data center project area, from 40,000 acres to approximately 10,000 acres,” Senate President J. Stuart Adams said in a statement Monday announcing he’d written to O’Leary.

The Utah politician’s backpedaling comes after a month of intense public pressure against the data center, which Adams acknowledged Monday, citing “public feedback and further review” as his reason to call for scaling back the project.

The public letter to O’Leary also comes weeks before Adams faces multiple Republican challengers in the GOP’s Senate District 7 primary election. The Senate president has received huge sums of campaign money from companies and lobbyists with development projects associated with the Military Installation Development Authority, which Adams chairs.

Adams said he also is “requiring” that excess water at the development be sent to the drying Great Salt Lake.

“I am demanding greater transparency, stronger conservation commitments and enhanced protections for Utah’s natural resources as this project moves through the review process. Utah can pursue economic opportunity while protecting our water, air, wildlife and communities,” Adams added. “We can and must do both.”

The Senate president also said relevant legislative committees “are actively examining the impacts of large-scale development on Utah’s water resources, energy infrastructure, land use and environment.”

In late April, MIDA approved a series of resolutions to move the multibillion-dollar data center project forward, agreeing to move fast and charge far lower taxes than usual to help O’Leary “lure the hyperscalers” to Utah. Then, in early May, Box Elder County commissioners unanimously voted to allow MIDA to create the data center project area.

In the letter, Adams called on the “O’Leary Digital development team to adequately and transparently meet” a half-dozen conditions, saying “I demand,” the following: a 75% reduction in project area’s footprint; a commitment to Great Salt Lake water stewardship; land conservation; environment impact mitigation, like heat capture; more transparency and public engagement with development process; and environmental performance standards.

The letter — dated June 1, nearly three weeks before Utah’s primary elections — does not include what would happen if Adams’ demands are not met.

A spokesperson for O’Leary did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the letter or why they think Adams is now calling on the data center project to be smaller.

“Box Elder County is aware of the June 1st statement from Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams regarding the proposed Stratos Project area.

In a statement Monday afternoon, Box Elder County officials said they are “aware” of Adams’ new statement.

“Box Elder County’s prior actions related to the Stratos Project were based on information provided by MIDA and the Developer,” county officials said. “Those actions by the County were limited to consenting to the inclusion of certain land in the MIDA project area and entering into an interlocal agreement intended to establish local protections and a process for future review."