FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO) — The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) is holding a virtual public hearing Tuesday on Google’s application for a state wetland permit tied to its data center expansion.

The hearing is scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 25, through Microsoft Teams. The public can comment on whether the proposed project meets Indiana’s water quality standards.

Google’s planned expansion involves an 858-acre property that contains six Class II isolated forest wetlands and one Class I non-forested wetland.

The proposal calls for filling about 2.13 acres of forested, Class II isolated wetland with clean soil as part of the data center campus expansion.

The project also includes impacts to about 0.93 acre of wetlands that do not require a state permit under Indiana law. IDEM says Google plans to offset those impacts by purchasing 4.26 acres of forested wetland credits from the Openings Mitigation Bank in Fort Wayne.

The public hearing is part of the state’s review of Google’s wetland permit application.

The wetland proposal comes amid ongoing concerns about Indiana’s wetland mitigation program. Critics have pointed to a backlog in required mitigation projects, while state officials have faced calls to address outstanding mitigation obligations.

According to information cited in a recent Journal Gazette Perspective column, more than 60% of stream mitigation projects and nearly one-third of wetland mitigation projects were behind schedule. The column also reported that only 66 of more than 1,000 mitigation credit purchases were considered fulfilled.

Written comments can be submitted to WaterwaysComments@idem.IN.gov. Comments should reference IDEM ID number SRIP01408.

The virtual hearing can be accessed through Microsoft Teams using the meeting information provided by IDEM.