Public speaks out on planned Falling Waters data center

Hundreds of residents gathered at Spring Mills High School in Martinsburg, West Virginia, for a town-hall style meeting to voice their concerns about a proposed $4 billion data center campus in the Falling Waters area of Berkeley County. Real estate development firm Penzance Management plans to build the 1.9-million-square-foot facility on 548 acres. Community members, including Joann Gregory, Joseph from Greensburg Road, Christopher Breeze, and Frank, expressed widespread opposition. Concerns ranged from diminished quality of life, increased noise levels, and reduced property values to severe environmental impacts on water resources, the land, and wildlife. Specific worries included the potential for wells to dry up due to high water consumption (up to 5 million gallons a day), increased flooding in a known flood zone, and the exemption of data centers from local ordinances and potentially Clean Water Act permits. A significant point of contention was West Virginia House Bill 2014 (HB 2014), which residents believe was passed secretly and strips local authority, granting the governor's office power over data center development and microgrids. Speakers like Christopher Breeze suggested the Berkeley County Commission should file a lawsuit against the Legislature to fight HB 2014. Others, including Katie McInnis of the "No Data Centers in the Eastern Panhandle" Facebook page, insinuated that local leaders were intimidated by the Morrisey administration. The Commissioners, Eddie Gochenour and John Hardy, who hosted the event, sought to distance themselves from the controversial state legislation. Residents questioned the classification of data centers as a public utility, arguing that it allows private corporations to benefit from eminent domain and tax breaks while imposing costs on the public, such as higher electricity bills. Many speakers also raised concerns about the longevity of data center technology, fearing that the massive structures could become obsolete and abandoned, leaving behind empty shells and lasting environmental damage.