Class action lawsuit filed against owners of Hyperscale Data Inc. in Dowagiac

DOWAGIAC, Mich. (WSBT) — Neighbors near Dowagiac's Hyperscale data center say the noise never stops, and now they're taking their fight to federal court. A federal class action lawsuit was filed on Tuesday against the owners of Hyperscale Data, "Alliance Cloud Services." Neighbors are now making strides to stop this noise at Dowagiac’s Hyperscale Data Center, filing a class action lawsuit against the owners of the company. "It's gotten to the point where we can hear it in our home, and it's impossible to deal with at this point. We have a nice big-sized backyard, a decent-sized front yard, and I'd really love to be able to take my son out to play and stuff, but not with this. If we go anywhere now. I'm walking him more than a mile away to get away from the noise," said Mitchell Gourley, a neighbor. The constant hum is created by cooling systems and fans within the data center. The lawsuit alleges the company has failed to follow proper industrial practices to prevent the offsite emission of noise. Many neighbors want a solution, and they hope the suit will encourage the company to make adjustments. Suggesting sound walls, changing the fan direction or moving out. "Well, we're not after the money. We don't care about that at all. We just want them to respond and do something. We've got to control the noise. Either it has to take a way down, or we'd like to have them move out to the industrial park," said John Valdes, a neighbor. Many neighbors WSBT22 spoke with have lived there for decades. They remembered when there was no concern about the sound. The Hyperscale Data Center moved in just four years ago. "We have lived here for a long time, but you know this was a quiet neighborhood. I think everybody who was living here appreciated being here because it was a quiet neighborhood, and just being part of the lawsuit is it's for everyone around here, not just for us," said Gourley. The mayor of Dowagiac responded to the class action lawsuit in a post on Facebook, saying: "The lawsuit is between the plaintiffs and the company. The City of Dowagiac isn't part of it. We'll stay focused on educating ourselves to prepare to review any expansion plans the company might submit for Council approval." All of the residents impacted are living within one mile of the Hyperscale Data Center, making changes in their daily lives because of the noise. "It used to be at nighttime we'd turn our air off, open our windows and have the breeze come through, and we always enjoyed that at nighttime, and now you can't be doing this at night. You get this continuous sound all the way through here all the time," said Valdes. A trial by jury is being requested by nearby residents. WSBT22 reached out to Hyperscale Data about this class action suit, but we have not heard back https://wsbt.com/news/local/federal-class-action-lawsuit-filed-against-owners-of-hyperscale-data-inc-in-dowagiac-alliance-cloud-services-cooling-systems-noises-adjustments-sound-concern-neighbors-dowagiac-michigan _________________ Stay up to date by following our social media: WSBT 22 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WSBTNews WSBT 22 on X: https://twitter.com/WSBT WSBT 22 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wsbt/ For more information, visit https://wsbt.com/ Have a news tip? Send it directly to our newsroom: wsbtnews@wsbt.com WSBT is an IN based station and a CBS Television affiliate owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sinclair, Inc. is one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country today. Sinclair owns and operates, programs or provides sales services to 163 television stations in 77 markets, after pending transactions. Sinclair's television group reaches approximately 38.7% of US television households and includes FOX, ABC, MyTV, CW, CBS, NBC, Univision and Azteca affiliates.