Court orders pause Lowell data center expansion
A Massachusetts Superior Court judge has temporarily halted the expansion of a Markley Group data center in Lowell. The decision comes as a resident-led lawsuit, supported by environmental justice groups, challenges air permits for new diesel generators, citing concerns about pollution in an environmental justice community. This legal action follows a recently enacted city moratorium on data center expansion and a separate class-action noise pollution lawsuit against Markley Group.
A Massachusetts Superior Court judge has issued an order blocking the Markley Group data center in Lowell from installing four new diesel generators, pending the outcome of a resident-led lawsuit. Residents, represented by the Conservation Law Foundation and Yale Law School’s Environmental Justice Law and Advocacy Clinic, argue that the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) unlawfully permitted the generators without fully assessing their polluting impact on an environmental justice community.
Jake Fortes, a Lowell resident whose home abuts the facility, expressed satisfaction with the court's decision, emphasizing that communities should not have to contend with construction while challenging project approvals. Markley Group CEO Jeff Markley, however, stated that the decision was based on limited facts and expressed confidence that the company will ultimately prevail, arguing that the DEP's original dismissal of the appeal was proper.
This legal challenge is one of several facing the Markley Group. In March, the Lowell City Council passed a 360-day moratorium on new data center construction and expansion, though Markley Group reached an agreement to continue with pre-existing expansion plans. The company also faces a class-action lawsuit concerning noise pollution. The 352,000-square-foot facility, located in a residential area, has been a growing source of community opposition.