Effingham County residents file damages lawsuit against OpenAI, county officials over Project Camellia

EFFINGHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) -Three Effingham County residents who previously sued the county over a zoning ordinance have filed a separate lawsuit seeking damages from OpenAI, the Effingham County Industrial Development Authority, county commissioners and other officials. The suit alleges a concerted effort to keep Project Camellia, the land transaction and its terms secret from the public until the land was committed.

The complaint was filed Nov. 6 in Effingham County State Court. The plaintiffs are Dr. Michelle Finch-Mincey, Lehman Mincey Jr. and Raymond Carver. The complaint says each is a resident, property owner and taxpayer in Effingham County. It says Carver lives in a neighborhood next to the proposed development.

The allegations have not been proven in court.

What the lawsuit says about the project

According to the complaint, Project Camellia is a proposed data center campus of four buildings totaling about 4.4 million square feet. OpenAI, through Octans GA LLC, plans to build it on about 1,440 acres in the Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub, at a reported cost of about $20 billion.

The complaint says the plaintiffs allege the approval was obtained through an effort to keep the project from residents “until the land was committed and their objections could no longer matter.”

Allegations about agreements and the land sale

The complaint alleges the Authority’s chief executive officer signed a nondisclosure agreement with OpenAI on Oct. 27, 2025. It also alleges OpenAI later circulated nondisclosure agreements to other local officials, including the county manager.

The complaint says the Authority met July 21 under an agenda that listed only “Project Gateway.” It says the Authority met in closed session for more than an hour and voted unanimously to approve a memorandum of understanding with Octans.

The complaint says a deed conveying about 1,440 acres to Octans was signed July 24 for recited consideration of $10. It says Savannah Industrial Development LLC signed the deed for the Authority under a power of attorney recorded in 2016.

The complaint quotes Authority director Eric Johnson as saying: “If we’d have put it out in front of the public, they’d have said ‘no data center’ based on misinformation,” and “We’re not a democracy.”

Allegations about zoning

The complaint alleges the Effingham County Board of Commissioners adopted Ordinance 2026-352 on Aug. 4 without two public hearings required by the county zoning ordinance and state law.

According to the complaint, the ordinance was presented to the board as a technical correction. The complaint alleges it changed the Table of Permitted Uses and the legal treatment of industrial land uses, including data centers.

Defendants and claims

The defendants are:

• Commissioners Damon Rahn, Forrest Floyd, Roger Burdette, Jamie Deloach, Elizabeth Helmly and Phil Kieffer
• County Manager Tim Callanan
• Authority CEO Brandt Herndon
• OpenAI OpCo LLC
• Octans GA LLC
• The Effingham County Industrial Development Authority
• Savannah Industrial Development LLC

The complaint lists 11 counts. They include fraudulent concealment, fraud and misrepresentation, civil conspiracy, breach of mandatory legal duties, procuring injury and violation of the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Other counts seek punitive damages and attorney’s fees.

The plaintiffs seek compensatory and punitive damages, attorney’s fees, litigation costs and a jury trial. The complaint also seeks three times actual damages from the defendants named in the racketeering count.

Attorneys’ statements

The plaintiffs are represented by Savage, Turner, Pinckney, Savage, Sprouse & Gilluly, a Savannah law firm. The firm announced the filing in a news release dated Nov. 9.

Attorney Ben Michaud said: “This case is not an attack against the use of AI or AI in general, it is an attack on the ways these defendants acted to procure the data center in Effingham County. It is a demand for transparency and accountability.”

Attorney Greg Gilluly said: “Government power should come from the consent of the people, not multi-billion-dollar corporations having secret meetings with public officials.”