# Groot Redacted Air-Permit Application and Trade-Secret Affidavit The previously-withheld **public (redacted) copy of [[GROOT LLC]]'s air construction permit application** (`F0002NZT.pdf`, 36 MB) for the West Memphis / [[Project Pyramid Title V Air Permit (2507-AOP-R0)|Project Pyramid]] data center, plus the **trade-secret affidavit** (`Groot LLC Affidavit.pdf`) Groot filed to justify the redactions. DEQ produced these in answer to the fourth point of [[Joshua Dunlap]]'s 2026-06-12 letter, which had demanded the legal basis for the "engine information available only in the confidential application" gap flagged at the [[deq/pre-permitting-correspondence-2026-06-11/_overview|June 11 ingest]]. > [!note] OCR/font-shift caveat > `F0002NZT.pdf` carries the air-permit f-ligature corruption noted in the SEEK/PDS retrieval work ("ffire," "speciffication," "identiffied"). Quotations below are cleaned to the obvious intended text; the raw artifacts remain in `extracted/.../F0002NZT.txt`. ## What's inside - `F0002NZT.pdf` — Groot LLC construction permit application narrative (Process Description, Facility Description, NESHAP/NSPS, Requested Limitations) + Appendix A (Process Layout Diagram), Appendix B (Limited PTE Calculations), Appendix C (Construction Permit Application). Redacted public copy. - `Groot LLC Affidavit.pdf` — 2-page notarized "Affidavit in Support of Trade Secret/Confidential Business Information Pursuant to Ark. Code §§ 4-75-601–607" of **Todd J. Guerrero**, on behalf of Groot LLC, dated August 7, 2025; sworn in Hennepin County, Minnesota (Notary Debra J. Richardson). ## Key takeaways **The facility, in Groot's own words.** "Groot LLC seeks to construct and permit a light industrial facility near West Memphis, Arkansas ... The Facility will operate under Standard Industrial Classification code 7374 (Computer Processing and Data Preparation and Processing Services) and North American Industry Classification System code 518210 (Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services)" (`F0002NZT.pdf`, Process Description). Location: "south of Rainer Road and east of Waverly Road (Section 26, Township 6N, Range 8E)." This is the first Tier-1 application-level confirmation that the "light industrial facility" is, by its own SIC/NAICS coding, a **data center**. **Engine fleet.** The application describes "[two] hundred thirty-two emergency stationary diesel" RICE plus six ancillary engines — "two emergency fire water pump engines, two emergency engines (site entrance generator and warehouse generator), one ... wastewater treatment plant generator, and one ... emergency engine" (`F0002NZT.pdf`, Facility Description). "Each proposed RICE will be a Tier 2 diesel engine," subject to NSPS Subpart IIII and NESHAP Subpart ZZZZ, limited to "100 hours per calendar year for maintenance and testing" and up to "50 hours ... in non-emergency situations." The facility requests authorization to burn either ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) or "renewable diesel fuel such as Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils (HVO)." Worst-case NOₓ emission factor: "8.65 g/bHP" hr; facility PTE for NOₓ exceeds 40 TPY, triggering the construction permit. Notably, "**Specific engines have not been selected**" — the permit is built on worst-case vendor spec sheets for three "Type 1" engines (Appendix B). **What Groot redacted, and why.** The Guerrero affidavit states Groot submitted "two copies ... (1) a public copy and (2) a confidential copy," and seeks trade-secret protection over "(i) the make, model, and manufacturer of the generators, (ii) capacity and efficiency of the generators (including with respect to kW, MMBtu, bhp/hr, etc.), and (iii) **total number of planned generators**" (`Groot LLC Affidavit.pdf`, p. 1). The justification leans on the six-factor test in *Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. P.O. Market, Inc.*, 347 Ark. 651 (2002): the "combination of units and their capacity and efficiencies as a 'unified process' is not generally known," and disclosure would let "competitors ... calculate the overall size and capacity of the proposed facility and thereby understand Groot's design philosophy." **"Groot currently has no employees."** The affidavit concedes the configuration "is known only to a select number of employees of Groot' or Groot's affiliated companies," then states plainly: "**Currently Groot currently has no employees**" (`Groot LLC Affidavit.pdf`, p. 1) — a Tier-1 confirmation of the shell character already documented for [[GROOT LLC]], with the substance held by unnamed "affiliated companies." Guerrero "agrees to act as an indispensable party and to exercise extraordinary diligence in any legal action arising from the Department's denial of public access." ## People and orgs mentioned - [[Todd J. Guerrero]] — affiant for Groot LLC; sworn in Hennepin County, Minnesota. - [[GROOT LLC]] — applicant; the West Memphis / Project Pyramid land-and-permit shell. - [[Google LLC]] — the confirmed hyperscaler behind Project Pyramid; not named in the application or affidavit (the "affiliated companies" go unnamed). ## Concepts invoked - Trade-secret / confidential business information under Ark. Code §§ 4-75-601–607; the *Wal-Mart Stores v. P.O. Market* six-factor test; Ark. Code § 25-19-105(b)(9)(A) (competitive advantage) and § 8-4-308(a)(1)(A) / 8 CAR § 40-1302 (DEQ trade-secret handling) as cited in DEQ's 2026-06-19 cover email. ## Cross-references - [[Project Pyramid Title V Air Permit (2507-AOP-R0)]] — the issued permit; this is the application behind it. - [[2024-10 AEDC Convenes the Project Pyramid Pre-Permitting Introduction]] - [[T003 - Shell-LLC Principal Attribution for Forgelight and Willowbend]] — the "no employees / affiliated companies" admission is new input; restraint holds (no hyperscaler named). ## Open questions / follow-ups - The **confidential (unredacted) copy** — make/model/manufacturer, per-unit capacity, and the exact generator count — remains withheld under the trade-secret claim. The issued 2507-AOP-R0 permit already discloses the 232-genset figure publicly, creating tension with the affidavit's claim that the "total number" is a protectable secret. - Whether the redacted PTE appendices conceal a facility size larger than the public permit reflects.