Meta data center neighbors reflect on 13-year noise fight

From Jim Bennett's backyard, Meta's data center sits beyond the trees. Tommy Doggett stood in the yard, listening for the noise that once made it difficult to enjoy. "Nature. Just nature. Birds and whatever. That's all you hear," he said. A 2024 state inspection documented 56 diesel backup generators at the site. Bennett and Doggett say it is much quieter now than when generator noise disrupted them after the facility opened. Facebook, as Meta was formerly known, opened its Forest City data center in 2012. In a News 13 report from 2013, neighbors described generator noise that could drown out an outdoor conversation. “When you couldn’t sleep at night without earplugs in, you know that’s a problem,” Doggett said. For Bennett, the noise reached a home he had spent years working to build. "I've worked all my life to have what I have here," he said. "And with that noise down there going on, there's no way that a person could live at peace here all the time and have to listen to that." Doggett credits the 2013 report with getting the company’s attention after, he says, neighbors had tried for a year to speak with Facebook. “The main thing was Channel 13 doing the report,” he said. He recalls Facebook asking the next day how it could be a better neighbor. Facebook’s response in 2013 said it already restricted periodic generator tests to 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The company also said it had planted trees and shrubs to reduce noise and ran the generators outside, testing only when needed. The complaints continued. In a 2015 News 13 follow-up, Facebook said it had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on sound-absorbing panels and additional trees. It cited a company-hired consultant’s finding of 60 decibels. Neighbors disputed that reading, and Bennett said the improvement was slight. Today, Bennett and Doggett believe the panels and trees helped. Doggett says he hears the generators only occasionally. Bennett can now enjoy the dream home he worked toward throughout his career and built for his retirement. “I can live in peace now the way we have it,” he said. Doggett recalls hearing generators run at 7 or 8 p.m. and says Bennett spoke with the company about it. He assumes the testing returned to daytime because he no longer hears the machines at night. But he has not seen a current schedule. That distinction matters: Facebook was already describing an 8-to-5 testing window in 2013. News 13 has not obtained a current schedule or written agreement showing what hours apply now. Dan Diorio of the Data Center Coalition, an industry advocacy group, said companies need “robust stakeholder engagement” to “help communities understand what this project is, what it isn’t.” The 2024 North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality inspection found the Forest City facility complied with applicable air-quality rules. In a report filed this February, the site’s operator reported that its emergency generators consumed 48,603 gallons of diesel in 2025. That figure shows the generators were used. It does not say when they ran, whether the fuel was burned during tests or outages, or how loud the machines sounded at nearby homes. The air inspection did not measure neighborhood noise. Meta calls itself a “good neighbor” in its Forest City fact sheet. The company reports more than 275 operational jobs and over $6.4 million in funding for area schools and nonprofits. The sheet does not provide current generator-testing hours, sound readings or a timeline of the changes made after neighbors complained. #meta #datacenters #noisecomplaint MORE: https://wlos.com/news/news-13-investigates/data-center-meta-facebook-forest-city-neighbors-13-years-noise-generator-residents-north-carolina-ai-company-investigates-complaints _______________ Follow WLOS on social media: WLOS ABC 13 News on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/News13/ WLOS ABC 13 News on X: https://x.com/WLOS_13 WLOS ABC 13 News on Instagram: https://instagram.com/wlos_13 Subscribe to WLOS on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ABC13Channel/?sub_confirmation=1 For all of the day’s top local and national news, visit www.wlos.com Stream our newscasts LIVE: www.wlos.com/watch Have a news tip? Send it directly to us: Email us: news@wlos.com Call the Newsroom: 828.684.1340 -- WLOS ABC 13 News serves the Asheville, NC area and the rest of western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. We keep our audience informed through local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of community events, sports and entertainment programming since 1954. This video and all Sinclair Broadcast Group content archives of local news and sports coverage are available for your use. For more information contact us at contentsales@sbgtv.com