DEP hears pushback to data center
Residents and environmental groups voiced strong opposition to a planned data center in Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania, during a hearing conducted by the DEP. Concerns included environmental degradation, noise, property devaluation, and the potential for increased pollution due to an adjoining coal and tire-burning power plant. Speakers also called for a moratorium on new data center developments.
Residents of Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania, expressed significant opposition to a proposed data center during a public hearing hosted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources (DEP). The hearing, held at Panther Valley Junior-Senior High School, followed an information session where DEP and the developer, Carbon Node East Development, attempted to explain project details and mitigation measures.
Concerns raised by community members and groups like Save Carbon County included potential property value loss, noise pollution, and degradation of local streams and wetlands, including those vital to native brook trout in the Lehigh River watershed. Several speakers also highlighted the data center's proximity to an existing power plant, operated by the same firm, that burns coal and tires, fearing multiplied pollution impacts.
Some residents questioned the long-term viability of such data centers, citing advancements in quantum computing and the high costs of decommissioning. One speaker, Roy Christman, even advocated for a moratorium on new data center developments to assess their true societal impact. DEP officials, including Joseph Buczynski and Mike Tarkonish, were present but did not speak, strictly gathering testimony, which will be accepted until September 5.