Visit to Fundamental Data’s Office Yields No Sign of Fundamental Data

Plus, sewer line work begins in Davis, with traffic disruptions

Fundamental Data’s air quality permit application lists an address in this building.

The office of Fundamental Data sits 130 miles east of Tucker County. It’s one of several two-story offices in a row of modest businesses in Purcellville, Virginia. Fundamental Data’s neighbors include a risk-management group, a wellness center for women, and the local police department.

Fundamental Data listed a suite in that building at 125 Hirst Road on its application for an air quality permit to build a large off-the-grid power plant near Davis and Thomas.

However, the name “Fundamental Data” doesn’t appear anywhere on that building in Purcellville.

Instead, the office suite carries the name CaseCo, a local construction company co-owned by Casey Chapman. About a dozen CaseCo-branded late-model pickups are parked nearby. A lumber yard sits directly behind the building.

Fundamental Data’s permit application, which lists Chapman as the “authorized representative” of the Tucker County project, doesn’t cite the purpose of the power plant it wants to build. However, experts say the power plant’s size and design, along with the name of the company, strongly suggest that it’s intended to generate electricity for a data center — or multiple data centers.

The CaseCo office is brightly lit with cheerful Easter decorations. Magazines in the waiting room were addressed to “Chapman Brothers LLC.”

During an unannounced visit Tuesday, an office worker informed Chapman he had a visitor from the media. Chapman appeared a short time later and moved the conversation to a conference room upstairs. As with the exterior of the building, there was nothing in the reception area or the conference room that mentioned Fundamental Data.

Chapman declined to be photographed or to talk on the record, except to say that he will provide more information to the public about the West Virginia project “at the appropriate time.”

Chapman, who was cordial throughout the meeting, has called himself a “West Virginia native” who loves Tucker County. However, a November 13, 2020 article in the Loudoun Times-Mirror says the Chapman family grew up Purcellville, Virgina.

When asked about that article in a telephone conversation Wednesday, Chapman said he was born in Charleston to a family with deep roots in West Virginia. He said his family moved to Virginia when he was about four years old, and he attended elementary, middle, and high school in Purcellville.

He said he has continued to visit family in West Virginia throughout his life.

“I have appreciation for both states. If you ask me where I’m from, I’m from West Virginia,” Chapman said. “Did I grow up there? In some ways I did. Did I go to grade school there? No, I did not.”

He added, “It’s a pretty fair split. It depends on how you look at it.”

Awaiting a response

Meanwhile, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is awaiting a response from Fundamental Data to a request for more information justifying the extensive redactions in the company’s air quality permit application. The company cited “confidential business information” as the reason for the redactions, but the DEP said Fundamental Data’s redactions “may not meet the eligibility requirements” for the information to remain secret.

The approval process for that permit is on hold while the DEP awaits a response from Fundamental Data.

More on this topic:

• Data Center Opponents Score Wins Even as Governor Signs ‘Microgrid’ Bill

• Smith Says Data Center Opponents Are Vacation Homeowners

• Data Center Timeline Shows Race to Deregulate

• Data Center Plan Draws Fierce Opposition

• Data Center Bill Would Divert Local Tax Revenue to the State

• Plan for Data Center Near Davis and Thomas Raises Alarms

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Sewer Line Upgrades Cause Traffic Disruptions

A staging area for the Davis sewer work.

A $13 million project to modernize Davis’s sewer system is underway, with rolling street disruptions expected through the summer.

Currently, sewage and storm water both flow into the town’s sewage treatment facility. New sewer lines are being installed, and the old sewer lines are being converted into a storm water collection system that will drastically reduce the load on the sewage treatment system.

Most of the funding for the project is from the federal government and a variety of state agencies.

Events

Last year’s Appalachian Fly Fishing Festival.

May 23-25, ArtSpring Festival, with exhibits, art walks, pint tour, live music, an arts market, and more.

May 30-June 1, Appalachian Fly Fishing Festival, with vendors, fly tying and casting demonstrations, and more.

June 12-15, Canaan Mountain Bike Festival, with group rides, skill training sessions, a fundraiser party, and the always thrilling “Run What Ya Brung” trials event. Registration required for some events.