Orangetown Planning Board Requires Environmental Impact Statement for Controversial Data Center Expansion, Delaying Project Indefinitely
The Orangetown Planning Board unanimously voted to require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for DataBank's proposed hyperscale data center expansion, effectively halting the project indefinitely. This decision followed significant public and local official opposition concerned about water consumption, energy costs, and noise. Residents and advocacy groups celebrated the board's decision to conduct a full environmental study.
The Orangetown Planning Board has unanimously voted to require a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Phase 2 expansion of the DataBank hyperscale data center complex, a decision that will indefinitely halt the project. This requirement, made in compliance with the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), addresses concerns about the significant environmental impact such a large project would have near Lake Tappan.
The board's decision comes after months of large-scale public opposition. Prior to the meeting, more than 100 local residents, joined by local elected officials and organizations including Food & Water Watch, Indivisible Rockland, the Data Center Coalition, and Sierra Club, rallied outside Orangetown Town Hall. Opponents had urged the Planning Board to reject DataBank's application, citing potential issues with egregious water consumption, skyrocketing energy costs, painful noise levels, and misuse of public funds.
Melissa Hoffmann, an organizer with Food & Water Watch, highlighted the overwhelming opposition to data centers, calling their explosive growth a major environmental and affordability threat to New York and the nation. Dave Rosen of the Data Center Crisis Coalition expressed confidence that the Planning Board would ultimately decline the "high risk project" as the Rockland County Planning Board had already determined. Peggy Kurtz of the Rockland Sierra Club specifically voiced concerns about the data center's proximity to Lake Tappan, a public drinking water reservoir, due to the risk of contamination from fuel tanks or electrical fires.