Data center opponents point to report critical of economic benefits

BATAVIA, NY – As final public hearings approach for the proposed $19.5 billion Stream data center at the Science, Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP), opponents are leveraging a new report to challenge the project's purported economic benefits to the region. The report, jointly commissioned by the Tonawanda Seneca Nation and the Sierra Club, contends that developer Stream Data Centers has failed to substantiate its cost-benefit analysis and job creation figures. Speakers at a Monday event at City Centre in Batavia, including environmental consultant Sarah Howard of the Tonawanda Indian Reservation, Grandell Hallett Logan of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation, Richard Beatty, and ReaAnn Engler, highlighted the report's criticisms. They assert that the project's impact on local infrastructure, utility costs, wildlife, and tourism has not been properly addressed by Stream Data Centers. Kelly Hallenbeck also spoke at the event, which saw protesters gather.