Clinic Advocates Against Data Center Expansion in Massachusetts City

A coalition of Lowell, Massachusetts residents represented by the Environmental Justice Law and Advocacy Clinic at Yale Law School has earned a major legislative victory in their struggle to secure protections against the impacts of commercial data centers on their community. On March 10, the Lowell City Council adopted a temporary moratorium on new construction and development of data centers in the city. The community group Honest Future for Lowell championed the measure, which was adopted into law on Tuesday by a 10-0 vote. The moratorium, the first of its kind in Massachusetts, goes into effect immediately, halting any new data center development in Lowell for one year. This comes amid mounting controversy about data center development in Lowell and throughout the country, as data centers require high levels of electricity and can have significant environmental impacts on surrounding communities. In July 2025, the clinic, together with Boston-based Alternatives for Communities & the Environment, filed a legal challenge on behalf of Sacred Heart residents to the most recent air permit that would authorize further expansion of the data center's operations. The appeal challenges the air permit approval by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, alleging that the plan will increase diesel particulate matter emissions, noise and dust pollution, and compound existing environmental burdens in the state-designated Environmental Justice community. The clinic, on behalf of Honest Future for Lowell and with co-counsel Conservation Law Foundation, also sent a cease-and-desist letter to Markley and the department in February 2025, directing them to immediately suspend what appeared to be construction of new diesel generators. However, the company has continued to add equipment to the facility, even as the appeal is pending. Despite these challenges, Honest Future for Lowell and the clinic remain committed to fighting for the safety and well-being of the Lowell community.