Olyphant considers agreement to settle data center lawsuit for $101 million
Olyphant Borough Council is preparing to vote on a proposed settlement with ERCOR Triboro LLC over a lawsuit seeking to bypass the borough’s conditional-use process for a seven-building data center campus. The proposed $101 million community benefits agreement would fund municipal services and reduce some residents’ tax and electricity bills, but opponents say it would deny residents public hearings and expose the community to significant noise, emissions, water and power impacts.
Olyphant Borough Council will hold a special meeting to consider settling ERCOR Triboro LLC’s lawsuit and approving a $101 million community benefits agreement. ERCOR plans to build seven 80-foot data centers and a substation across roughly 470 acres near Marshwood Road and Route 247, with a projected electricity demand of 1 gigawatt. The agreement would provide Olyphant with payments for 15 years, including funds for infrastructure, police, parks and school tax relief, while requiring closed-loop cooling, generator noise controls, sound studies and other conditions.
The lawsuit argues that prior warehouse approvals allow the data center project to proceed by right rather than through the borough’s newly adopted conditional-use process. Borough solicitor John Brazil said the settlement provides stronger protections and financial benefits than the existing ordinance, while Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan and members of Stop Olyphant Data Centers criticized the proposed deal for sidelining public hearings. The lawsuit remains pending until the council votes on the settlement, and the project would still require amended land-development approvals.