Facility or project event · Permit issued · Official record

Botetourt County permit issued in August 2026: Google Data Center Campus — Botetourt Center at Greenfield (VA) — land disturbance permit for Mass Grading Package No. 1 (phased grading)

Botetourt County reported that Google had received a County Land Disturbance Permit, after the County completed review of Mass Grading Package No. 1, allowing phased grading on its 312-acre site in the Botetourt Center at Greenfield.

What this is. A permit is permission, not construction or operation. A permit expiry is not closure.
Event date
County project page FAQ ('WHAT IS THE PROJECT TIMELINE?') says the grading plans and land disturbance permit were 'issued by the County in August 2026'; the news flash posted August 26, 2026 reports the permit as already received, so issuance was on or before 2026-08-26. No issuance day is stated.
Source dated
News flash dateline 'Posted on August 26, 2026 | Last Updated on August 31, 2026'.
Source accessed
Retrieved by DataCenterData; not an event date.
Added to Latest updates
When this entry entered the updates log; not an event date.
Event type
Permit issued · Permits
Evidence basis
Official record · Botetourt County
Confidence
HighPermit issuance, month and entity all come from the issuing County's own records.
State
Virginia
Permit
Botetourt County permit (no single permit number is cited for this entry) · land disturbance permit for Mass Grading Package No. 1 (phased grading)
Linked records
Google Data Center Campus — Botetourt Center at Greenfield google-botetourt-greenfield
Linked claims
None linked

What the source says

Google has now satisfied requirements and received a Land Disturbance Permit from the County to begin grading for its planned data center campus in Botetourt County.

Where: News Flash (category Google), 'Posted on August 26, 2026 | Last Updated on August 31, 2026', first paragraph

Internet Archive copy (captured 21 September 2026)

What this does not establish

  • start of grading or construction
  • building permits
  • state or federal environmental permits
  • completion, energization or operation

Still unknown

  • exact issuance day
  • permit number
  • legal entity named on the permit (County says 'Google')
  • whether on-site grading has actually begun (County FAQ says grading 'expected to begin during Fall 2026')
  • status of DEQ and U.S. Army Corps wetland permits

Identifiers

Event ID 66f939940f6d3fedb0c0491883703b93aca04b76cdac2ac1b2bb59f29271ece1. The ID is derived from the event itself and never changes. A later correction would be published as a separate, linked entry.

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