Schuylkill County Residents Voice Opposition to Planned Data Centers and Landfill Expansion

Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, residents expressed strong opposition to several planned developments, including data centers, an ICE detention center, biosolids facilities, and landfill expansion, during a recent county commissioners meeting. Concerns centered on quality of life, clean drinking water, and air. David Plachko of Saint Clair engaged in a heated exchange with Commissioners Chairman Larry Padora, criticizing the county's perceived inaction regarding a planned landfill expansion by BRADS, which involves land from Reading Anthracite Co. Plachko highlighted Saint Clair's appeal to the state Environmental Hearing Board over DEP's renewal of BRADS' operating permit, asserting public mobilization against the project. Padora maintained that the land sale was a private matter outside the commissioners' direct control, but noted a scheduled meeting with state Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Jessica Shirley to discuss the landfill and other issues. Lisa Von Ahn of Pottsville urged Commissioners Padora and Boots Hetherington to publicly oppose the ICE center in Tremont Twp., which she controversially described as an "ICE concentration camp." Commissioner Gary Hess has voiced personal objections, while his colleagues have avoided the "politics" of the issue, focusing on taxpayer protection. Padora strongly objected to Von Ahn's comparison of the ICE center to the Holocaust. Joe Wiscount of Tremont also called for a proclamation against the ICE center, acknowledging that both the detention center and planned data centers would create jobs but argued they would come at the cost of environmental quality and residents' well-being. Chairman Padora reiterated that building three data centers in suitable locations, such as abandoned coal mining sites, could generate significant tax revenue, potentially stabilizing the county's tax base for many years.