A few dozen residents called on Allegheny County to deny a building plan for a proposed data center outside Pittsburgh at a hearing Wednesday night.
The project in Springdale needs county approval on its land-development plan to move forward. Its developers secured permission from the Springdale Borough Council in December, along with some zoning variances.
The proposed data center would occupy the site of the former coal-fired Cheswick power plant. Instead of generating electricity, however, it could use as much power as nearly 200,000 homes as it supports computing processes needed to power artificial intelligence functions.
After a lengthy briefing on the outlines of the plans by county staff and representatives from the data center company Allegheny DC Propco — also branded as Dynamo DC — leaders from building trades groups spoke in favor of letting the Springdale Dynamo data center advance.
Jason Markovich, who said he was speaking as the business manager of the Pittsburgh Regional Building Trades, said the data center would support more than 1 million man-hours for union workers.
“The effects of the original investments for projects like these go far beyond the construction site,” Markovich said. “They go into local households and local businesses and local communities.”
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But the majority of more than two dozen speakers at Wednesday’s virtual hearing said they are against the center, saying it could threaten jobs because of the center’s role in supporting AI, would create unbearable noise from the computing facility’s coolers and generators, and increase air pollution that will harm peoples’ health.
Carole Reinert of Springdale said she is a member of the United Steelworkers, so she knows that unions ensure good-paying jobs.
“However, as a resident of this community, I feel my opinion matters more than those construction union workers who live outside this area,” Reinert said. “The state constitution gives me the right to clean air. A data center of this size does not belong this close to where humans live.”
Fran Kropelak said she’s lived in Springdale for more than 40 years, and the community finally has clean air now that the former coal plant is closed.
“We had to deal with all the dust, the dirt, the air pollution that was caused by Cheswick coal plant that they made every day,” Kropelak said. “Don’t you think we’ve suffered enough? Give us a break.”
Kropelak said plans for the center are already driving down property values. She said she tried listing her home and could not even get a “low-ball” offer.
Jon Quicquaro of Cheswick was one of several speakers who criticized the company’s plans for being incomplete.
“Please don’t ask Springdale families to accept promises where evidence is required. Rachel Carson taught the world to ask difficult questions,” Quicquaro said, invoking the famous environmentalist and Springdale native, “and I’m asking Allegheny County to make sure that those questions are answered.”
County officials had dozens of outstanding questions on the designs.
Natalia Cains Febles, a county planner who reviewed the center’s application, said the documents mention — but do not show — changes to a veterans memorial on the site. She noted omissions such as accessible parking spots and access points to generator pads as well as inconsistencies in the designs throughout the document.
Because of the site’s history as a coal power plant, its soils are contaminated with toxic chemicals, including arsenic. The county’s review noted “no evidence of any completed and approved remediation was submitted.”
The company responded before the hearing that the site would be capped and an environmental covenant would be put in place restricting the use of groundwater from the site, among other conditions.
Construction would disturb the site. County consultants said they still need to know a plan for how to protect neighboring properties, as well as where contaminated soils will go after being removed.
Company representatives said the plans will be revised ahead of an Oct. 28 hearing that will be held at the Springdale borough building.
The county’s economic development office must issue a decision on the building plans by Jan. 26.
The data center will also need to apply for and obtain an air quality permit from the county health department before it can start construction.
