Guy Fuller lives across the road from an incoming data center in Upper Burrell.
He’s worried about potential air pollution from the site, which will be powered by natural gas wells already under the property, and how that might affect his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and emphysema.
“We want to know what emissions (are) coming off of it,” Fuller said. “Health’s a big concern.”
Fuller was among other township residents, and those from nearby municipalities, who attended a community workshop, hosted by Protect PT and The Climate Reality Project at Penn State New Kensington.
A day after Upper Burrell presented a draft version of its long-awaited ordinance to regulate data centers, organizers at the workshop shared with residents potential data center risks, information on the local government’s role in projects and how people in the community can get involved and share their voice.
Florida-based TECFusions got permission from the township to start work on a data center that, one day, could use up to 3 gigawatts of electricity, though that could be a decade away.
Upper Burrell’s draft ordinance proposes rules for data centers and accessory use projects, but it does not apply to work data center developer TECFusions already is doing on a building at the former Alcoa/Arconic Research Development campus.
Gillian Graber, executive director of Protect PT, said the environmental nonprofit wants more information, including documents from TECFusions about long-term plans for the site.
“Our goal is to ensure that the community has a voice in the process,” Graber said.
Lifelong resident Allen Uhler, who helped to organize the workshop, said it was a step toward further engaging and informing the community.
“I just think that bringing people together like this, this is going to be more beneficial to open up the rest of the board members of Upper Burrell to see that there’s other concerns around this,” Uhler said.
About the draft ordinance
Supervisors Chairman Ross Walker said a final version of the ordinance likely won’t pass until the fall and the township will hold a public hearing to discuss it, though a date for that hasn’t been set.
He said they will add two items that aren’t in the draft, one requiring data centers to generate their own power and another requiring them to use a closed-loop water cooling system.
The TECFusions center plans call for a closed-loop water system, which representatives from the company have previously said makes it more sustainable. The majority of power for the center is expected to come from generators running on natural gas from wells already on site.
“We would be very happy to listen to anything additional at all from the residents,” Walker said. “We have it 90% (done) right now and we’re adding these two items, then it will be open for discussion from the public.”
The draft ordinance states developers must dispose of wastewater and of any potentially hazardous materials, including water-glycol mixtures, dialectric liquids, nitrite inhibitors, copper and zinc, in accordance with Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and federal Environmental Protection Agency standards.
It also requires pre- and post-construction noise and vibration studies, sound reduction barriers for accessory equipment within 300 feet of a roadway and landscape buffers between a data center and residential land or public roadways.
Data centers would be limited to using the minimum light necessary for operations, and could not have light that extends beyond the lot used for the project, according to the draft ordinance.
Prior to any construction, the draft ordinance states, developers must do environmental impact studies and make a plan to reduce ecological impact, including e-waste, energy consumption and carbon emissions.
Residents’ roles moving forward
Amy Beattie lives in Lower Burrell, but owns a rental property in Upper Burrell.
“I worry about the decrease (in value) of the properties we’ve invested in,” Beattie said. “I want to be able to sit on my front deck and enjoy peace and quiet on a nice summer evening. I don’t want to be listening to some hum. I don’t want my tenants to have to deal with that either.”
TECFusions founder Simon Tusha has previously said the center would not create noise.
According to the draft ordinance, data centers would be considered a conditional use in industrial-zoned areas in the township.
The draft ordinance states that outdoor levels for industrial manufacturing and utilities in industrial zones in the township should not exceed 75 decibels, cumulatively, over the course of a 24-hour period.
Beattie said she plans to become a member of Protect PT, which would give the organization “standing” in the community, allowing them to guide residents through public zoning hearings.
For special exception and conditional use projects, a public hearing with testimony from the developer that they comply with municipal rules is required, said Tom Kloehn, a staff attorney with Appalachian Mountain Advocates, which has been advising Protect PT.
Those hearings are a chance for residents to be heard as “objectors” to the project, Kloehn said.
“The applicant has to prove that they meet the terms of the ordinance, and that usually requires having experts,” Kloehn said.
Like many residents, Al Baxter, is concerned about noise and environmental effects from the project.
Baxter, who also protested against a data center project in Springdale, said he thinks it shouldn’t be put in a community near residents.
“This is a small community, it should have never been in this area,” Baxter said. “We just want a safe environment for everybody, and I’m not just talking about Upper Burrell.”