Lowell residents file Massachusetts’ first lawsuit against a data center

Residents of Lowell, Massachusetts, have initiated the first lawsuit against a data center in the state, targeting the Markley Group, owner of a 352,000-square-foot facility, and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The complaint, filed in Middlesex County Superior Court, alleges environmental harm to the city's Sacred Heart and Back Central neighborhoods, designated environmental justice communities, due to cooling tower mist, noise, and emissions from diesel generators. Plaintiffs, members of the Honest Future for Lowell group, also contend that the DEP unlawfully bypassed public oversight in approving an air quality permit for eight new diesel generators and issuing an "administrative consent order" that allowed construction to proceed during an ongoing appeal process. Attorneys from Yale Law School's Environmental Justice Law and Advocacy Clinic and the Conservation Law Foundation represent the plaintiffs, seeking to revoke both the DEP's air permit approval and the consent order. The lawsuit highlights growing scrutiny of data centers nationwide and follows a recent Lowell City Council vote to impose a temporary moratorium on new data center construction and expansion. Markley Group did not respond to requests for comment.