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Updates and methodology
Published by Northshore Gen. Last verified October 16, 2026. Material conclusions are dated, sourced and corrected in public.
Editorial rules
What changes the verdict
Document history
Each stage of the IDEM operating-permit lifecycle maintains its own dated record. A submitted application is not an issued permit, and draft conditions are not effective until final action.
Received by IDEM July 24, 2026
IDEM application 089-50590-00739 is listed in Draft processing status as of October 1, 2026. No draft permit has been published for public comment. The application is not an IDEM-issued permit.
Not yet published
Reserved for the draft document and public-comment record when IDEM publishes them.
Not yet issued
Reserved for the approved permit and enforceable conditions if IDEM issues the permit.
None
Future revisions will be preserved as separate dated versions rather than replacing earlier records.
Public corrections
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This is an independent public-information project. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Amazon, IDEM, EPA, NIPSCO, NiSource, GenCo, MISO or IURC.
Public changelog
Judge Parent's signed October 15, 2026 order in 45D11-2512-MI-000644 granted the defendants' joint Trial Rule 12(B)(6) motion to dismiss the Soriano II site-plan claims (failure to file the Plan Commission administrative record within the 30-day statutory window) and vacated the September 28 order, ending the October 20 record-transmission deadline. Final judgment entered on the Soriano II claims; appeal permitted. The Soriano I zoning claims are not dismissed, and the October 19 dismissal hearing remains on the docket. Separately, the October 7 Council draft minutes record adoption of the NorthWind North tax-abatement resolution and development agreement (both 6-0). Full details: October 15 dismissal-order brief.
Added new public docket entries: in 45D11, Hobart Owner LLC filed a September 29 motion to reconsider the September 28 order requiring transmission of the full Plan Commission record by October 20, a September 30 telephonic attorney conference was held, Judge Parent signed a case-management plan, and a dismissal hearing was set for October 19 at 1:30 p.m.; in the consolidated 45D10 docket, a September 29 motion to reconsider was filed and Judge Adat-Lopez signed an October 1 order striking a filing, with the docket label not identifying which filing was struck; 45D04 shows no new entries since March 12. The full text of the new orders was not available in the public summaries. Recorded IDEM's move of air-permit application 089-50590-00739 (Amazon Data Services Incorporated, 4751 E. 61st Ave., Hobart, received July 24) to Draft status with an October 1 status date — a draft application is not an issued permit and no public notice start is shown. Motions are labeled as party filings, not rulings, and the October 20 record-transmission deadline was then standing — it was vacated by the judge's October 15, 2026 order.
Added the September 22 Hobart Sanitary District / Stormwater Management Board agenda item titled “Amazon Sewer Service Agreement: Discussion / Consideration.” The agenda records scheduled business, not an approved or executed agreement.
Added a source-labeled explanation of the NIPSCO Industrial Group's request for additional electric-transmission and gas-transmission studies. The filing is a party request, not an IURC ruling or proof of a grid or gas shortfall.
Added a permanent, source-labeled record of the proposed NorthWind North industrial and logistics development. The September 16 City agenda materials describe a draft agreement and related proposed action; they do not establish final approval, execution, or that AWS construction has begun.
Added the current Indiana MyCase docket summary: 45D11 is shown as “Pending (active)” with August dismissal-motion activity and a September 22 hearing; the related 45D10 summary is labeled “Decided,” but no public disposition or merits order was identified; and 45D04 still displays “Pending” with no new substantive update identified. Added the August 17 Hobart Redevelopment Commission agenda and September 3 Plan Commission agenda, preserving the distinction between agenda items and approved action. Added the August 25 Cause 46322 tariff-sheet filing from the IURC weekly list as docket activity only. The site-level verification date now matches this review.
Added IDEM Permit 089-50590-00739 with its July 24 application-received milestone and Initial Processing status; Indiana DHS Project 462383’s July 20 Form COR filing and July 21 Standard design release; the July 28 court order consolidating the two active judicial-review matters; and the public title and date of the July 16 Cause 46322 compliance filing. Each source now states its access treatment and controlling-record relationship. The court consolidation is not a merits ruling, the state design release is not a local building permit or occupancy approval, and no confidential IURC material was accessed.
Added the reported May 7 Plan Commission 8–0 site-plan outcome, the February 5 fill-permit vote details, the reported receipt of the first $47 million contribution and later NIPSCO/NiSource updates describing an expanded Amazon load, accelerated energization and broader customer-savings estimates. Each item is attributed and scope-labeled; the June 17 IURC orders remain the controlling utility record.
Added a high-confidence finding that qualifying data-center review costs are likely subject to Hobart’s Chapter 155 reimbursement framework. Kept the reported $205,000 total, actual reimbursement payments and resident-lawsuit defense costs labeled unverified until an Amazon-specific agreement and accounting ledger are obtained. Separately labeled the billion-dollar revenue statement as a long-term projection rather than a realized net return.
Added a source-backed review of three related Lake Superior Court matters. The record now includes the February 18 final order confirming the ERA and real-property abatements, the March 26 first-fill-permit dismissal, the April 13 denial of reconsideration, the June site-plan petition and July briefing activity. Added direct answers on Amazon/GenCo cost responsibility, early-exit protections and why the current NIPSCO base-rate increase should not be attributed to Hobart without the applicable rate order or rider.
Added the official Northwest Indiana Forum webinar as a company/community presentation, with timestamped summaries and evidence-status labels. Cross-checked the generation, battery, utility and noise-rule statements against official records; preserved water, sound, site-design and community-program figures as attributed projections or commitments.
Added current ratings for the stale 25-building/24-generator estimate, continuous-diesel claims, the non-Hobart Virginia noise study, environmental-review language, tax incentives, job accountability and legal-process allegations. Added the City’s stormwater review, noise ordinance and economic agreements, including the $175 million contribution schedule.
Updated the construction record to reflect Northshore Gen’s dated observation that mass grading is underway. Added corroborating public statements that the Hobart campus is currently under construction and that the first vertical building was expected as a 2026 milestone. Late-2026 vertical construction remains labeled scheduled, not completed.
Added Amazon’s actual control-efficiency values, distinguished Tier 2 engine certification from Tier 4-equivalent aftertreatment, and replaced an inapplicable Title V timeline with IDEM’s current FESOP public-review pathway. Added the usually 30-day comment period, official Lake County notice page, mailing-list contact and a checklist for useful comments.
Expanded the power plan with the 400 MW battery resource, 3,000 MW resource portfolio, 15-year customer contract, estimated Shared System Charge credits and cost-allocation safeguards. Added a separate Land & Water review of the submitted October 2025 SBN520 mass-grading plans.
Renamed the site Facts Over Fear: Hobart Data Center and moved the Lebanon comparison into a secondary case-study role. The homepage now leads with the air application, utility pathway, generators, regulations and public-source library.
Added the Amazon-submitted application, core generator totals, federal runtime explanation, IURC orders, MISO project record, Lebanon comparison, source library and future IDEM document slots.
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