This family says they’re living right beside the future home of Alberta’s Meta AI data centre

A family farming near the future site of a Meta data centre says they were shocked to hear Danielle Smith say no one lives in the area.

A Sturgeon County family says a future Meta AI data centre is going to become its next-door neighbour.

The Onusko Family’s homestead, established in 1913, is about five kilometres northeast of a Meta AI data centre the Alberta government announced earlier this month.

Kelly Onusko says he’s used to having industrial neighbours. The family has farmed cereal grains, canola, oil seed and livestock through the years as their neighbours changed from farms to refineries and a fertilizer plant.

The designated Industrial Heartland zone he lives in was formally established in 1999, but the Onuskos were permitted to stay.

“It’s a bit of an emotional topic for me,” Onusko, who now lives on the homestead alone as farming operations have slowed down, told CTV News Edmonton. “When I look back at our grandfather settling here and the intentions of being a farmer, nobody would expect what happened.”

Onusko and his sister, Linda Kretzel, say they were surprised to hear Premier Danielle Smith describe the location as entirely industrial. Earlier this month, Smith said the area was “not used for farming, residential housing or food production.”

While the siblings know it may be a losing battle, they want their presence to be considered when major new projects like the data centre are proposed.

“I just want the government and the industry to be responsible and accountable and for them to know the truth: We’re here,” Kretzel said.

The premier told CTV News on Thursday that her government took two years on Meta’s data centre proposal. She says they struck the right balance on the location, impact to the power grid, water and local concerns.

On Friday, a government spokesperson told CTV News the land is largely industrial-zoned and undeveloped.

“The zoning consultation and zoning decisions were made decades ago as the land was originally going to be home to multiple refineries,” a statement from ministry of technology press secretary Jonathan Gauthier read.

As Onusko is the only member living on the homestead, most of his fields are all leased to other farmers.

The data centre is expected to come online in the next two to three years.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson