Hanover Township residents oppose proposed data center in Washington County, Pennsylvania
Residents of rural Hanover Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, are mounting an 11th-hour opposition campaign against a proposed data center campus that includes a natural gas power plant. The project, led by Prime Data Centers and Alex Paris, has met existing zoning requirements and a recently passed data center ordinance, and only requires final council approval. Opponents cite concerns about noise pollution, health impacts from emissions, and potential negative effects on their quality of life, accusing developers of wielding political influence.
Residents of rural Hanover Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, are engaged in an "11th-hour fight" against a proposed massive data center campus.
The project, located on 126 acres of a former strip mine at the back end of an industrial park, plans for eight buildings and its own natural gas power plant to supply electricity. While developers, like site owner Alex Paris, argue data centers are essential and that this remote, post-industrial site is ideal, residents fear noise pollution, health concerns from infrasound and emissions, and higher energy bills, believing the project will destroy their community's peace and tranquility.
The data center campus reportedly meets current zoning requirements and complies with a recently passed data center ordinance, only needing final approval from the Hanover Township Council. Residents, who say they were caught off guard, criticize the ordinance as being too accommodating due to insufficient setbacks and lax noise level requirements. They accuse Paris and his partners, the Miller family, of using political influence to facilitate the ordinance's passage.
Despite developer assurances that the project will not create significant traffic, pollution, or noise issues and will generate thousands of construction jobs, hundreds of permanent jobs, and substantial tax revenue, opponents plan a large turnout at the final council meeting on August 5th, hoping to stop or delay the development. KDKA Lead Investigator Andy Sheehan reported from Hanover Township.