Martindale-Brightwood neighbors sue to stall Metrobloks data center

Residents of Martindale-Brightwood, a historically Black community in Indianapolis, along with the Hoosier Environmental Council, have initiated a lawsuit to halt a city-approved data center project. The lawsuit, filed in May, targets the Metropolitan Development Commission (MDC) for its April 1 approval of zoning variances for a Metrobloks data center, alleging the commission did not adequately consider the project's potential harm to the environment, public health, and residents' quality of life. The proposed facilities, to be built on the site of a former drive-in theater, would include two 70-foot-tall buildings and 36 electrical generators. Critics contend the data center would introduce excessive noise and pollution to a site with existing industrial contamination, while offering minimal permanent job creation in a neighborhood grappling with poverty. Sam Carpenter, Executive Director of the Hoosier Environmental Council, stated that the legal challenge is a unified effort to protect the community from what he described as patterns of environmental racism. The city's Office of Corporation Counsel has declined to comment on the pending litigation. Metrobloks, a Los Angeles-based startup, plans a $500 million, 75-megawatt data center campus on a 14-acre site, with power to be supplied by AES Indiana. The Indianapolis City-County Council ratified the MDC's zoning decision on May 4, a move that followed Councilor Ron Gibson's decision not to bring the plan before the full council. Gibson supports the data center, citing millions in investment and long-term tax revenue for city infrastructure, a stance he maintained even after an incident at his home related to the project. This lawsuit in Martindale-Brightwood is not an isolated incident; it follows a similar legal challenge in April by Decatur Township residents concerning a separate hyperscale data center. Concurrently, the city council passed a symbolic resolution on May 4, advocating for a pause on data center development until new zoning reforms, which could be enacted by July, are established to regulate energy-intensive facilities. However, companies like Metrobloks that have already submitted plans would be exempt from these new regulations.