# 2026-06 DEE/DEQ Produces the Native-Format Supplement and Redacted Groot Application On June 19, 2026, the Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment / DEQ made its **second** production on the Hyperscale Data Center FOIA — answering [[Joshua Dunlap]]'s June 12 four-point follow-up to the [[deq/pre-permitting-correspondence-2026-06-11/_overview|June 11 item-6 supplemental]]. The delivery (13 files, ≈39 MB) supplied the previously-withheld **redacted [[GROOT LLC]] air construction permit application** and its trade-secret affidavit, plus **native `.msg`** versions of pre-permitting correspondence, and expressly left a further native-file supplement owed. ## Sources - [[deq/pre-permitting-supplement-2026-06-19/_overview]] (production; raw under `raw/deq/pre-permitting-supplement-2026-06-19/`). The correspondence trace lives in Gmail (thread `19e8f3501395a49d`), not `raw/`. ## What happened - DEQ Legal Support Specialist **Sarah Martin** (`[email protected]`) — succeeding Sara White on the matter — delivered the records via a new SharePoint folder ("Joshua Dunlap 6.12.2026") and answered the four points: (1) only request item #6 was searched/produced ("that is what was searched for and produced"); (2) "No responsive records ... were withheld or redacted" for item #6; (3) on native format, "Due to employees being out, we do not have all the native files collected. **We will supplement the files**"; (4) the redacted Groot application and its trade-secret affidavit were produced, with the legal basis stated (Ark. Code § 25-19-105(b)(9)(A); § 8-4-308(a)(1)(A) / 8 CAR § 40-1302; Ark. Code § 4-75-601 et seq.). - The four interim messages preceding it (June 15 acknowledgment; June 17 and June 18 delay notices, all from Sara White) are part of the same Gmail thread. ## Significance - **First Tier-1 sight of the confidential Groot application** ([[Groot Redacted Air-Permit Application and Trade-Secret Affidavit]]): the "light industrial facility" is self-coded SIC 7374 / NAICS 518210 (data center); 232 Tier-2 diesel RICE + 6 ancillary engines; ULSD/HVO; "specific engines have not been selected." The affidavit concedes "Groot currently has no employees" and claims trade secret over the generators' make/model, capacity, and total count. - **Shared-vendor channels sharpened:** [[Kimley-Horn]] is shown serving both [[AVAIO Digital Partners|AVAIO]]/Project Leo and [[GROOT LLC]]/Project Pyramid ([[Groot STAA Signatory and Section 401 Gating Correspondence]], [[AVAIO Project Leo Construction Stormwater Permit Modification]]); [[Harbor Environmental]] appears on Project Boar ([[Project Boar Section 401 and Environmental Impact Exhibit]]). - **Montfort↔Groot at Tier 1:** DEQ confirmed [[Michael Montfort]] as Groot's Responsible Official via the Arkansas Secretary of State — relevant to [[T003 - Shell-LLC Principal Attribution for Forgelight and Willowbend|T003]] (new input; restraint holds). - **Open thread:** the promised native-file supplement remains owed as of this ingest.