Pennsylvania Court to Hear Arguments on Non-Resident Standing in Data Center Opposition
A Scranton resident is seeking legal standing to oppose a data center project in neighboring Ransom Twp., Pennsylvania, arguing that impacts transcend municipal boundaries. The developer, Scranton Materials, challenges her standing, while Ransom Twp. does not oppose her intervention. A Lackawanna County judge will hear arguments on this matter, which could establish a precedent for non-residents opposing developments in nearby municipalities.
A legal battle is unfolding in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, over whether a Scranton woman has legal standing to oppose a proposed data center campus in neighboring Ransom Township. Susan Magnotta, a resident of Scranton's Keyser Valley, is petitioning to intervene in an appeal filed by developer Scranton Materials after Ransom Township supervisors rejected the company's data center plans.
Magnotta's attorney, Laura McGarry, argues that despite living two-thirds of a mile away in Scranton, Magnotta should have standing due to the proposed data center's potential negative impacts on stormwater runoff, noise, light, air and water pollution, and strain on local electricity and water supplies. Magnotta cited existing power outage problems that she believes the data center would exacerbate. Keyser Valley Neighborhood Association President Gary DiBileo, also the Lackawanna County controller, echoed these concerns, emphasizing that the data center's effects would be felt across municipal lines, impacting health, environment, and infrastructure.
Scranton Materials, which plans a six-building data center campus with large stormwater ponds, maintains that Magnotta lacks standing because she is not a Ransom Township resident and her concerns are speculative, lacking a "substantial, direct and immediate interest" in the litigation. Ransom Township, however, does not oppose Magnotta's motion to intervene in the appeal.
This case could set a significant precedent for how residents of neighboring municipalities can challenge developments. Other community members, like Janessa Bednash of the grassroots group Stop Archbald Data Centers, also advocate for the right of residents in adjacent towns to oppose projects, highlighting that environmental and economic impacts do not adhere to town borders. Lackawanna County Judge Margaret Bisignani Moyle is scheduled to hear arguments in the appeal.