An Eastern Pennsylvania developer wants to build a 1-gigawatt data center campus and natural gas plant in rural Elizabeth Township at a former landfill site, according to email records between the developer and municipal officials.
The development, located at a 549-acre parcel on Henderson Road near the Youghiogheny River, would include anywhere from 11 to 28 two-story data center buildings powered by a combined cycle generator, according to multiple potential scenarios presented over the summer. Tim Hendricks, a resident of New Hope in Bucks County, wants to develop the site through his company Hendricks Group Developers, LLC, according to records obtained through a Pittsburgh’s Public Source public records request.
On Sept. 15, township commission President Josh Walls announced at a commission meeting that Elizabeth had been approached about a data center project. The township is hosting a town hall meeting on Oct. 13 to discuss the center.
Even one of the smaller options, a 12-building plan, would total 3.7 million square feet. That would dwarf a planned site in Springdale Borough opposed by some local residents. Opposition is already beginning to emerge in Elizabeth.
“We don’t want it,” said Scott Taylor, a township resident and president of Protect Elizabeth Township (PET), a local environmental group that has led opposition to a six-well natural gas project in the township. “These kinds of proposals, these kinds of projects to this scale, do not belong in Elizabeth Township.”
In an interview Tuesday, Hendricks spoke broadly about the project but said he’d hold off on some details, including plans for the generating station and the preferred final layout, until the town hall. He estimated that it would take one-and-a-half years to get the required permits for the project.
The site would produce its own power with the on-site power plant. Hendricks said the project will have “zero impact” on local electricity rates.
Today’s data centers utilize a “closed loop” system that would “use less water than a residential community on the same site would use,” according to Hendricks’ emails with municipal officials. In the interview, he said it could come from “any number of sources,” including hauling it in on trucks.
The site could generate $125 million in annual tax revenue for the municipality and Elizabeth Forward School District, according to Hendricks
Elizabeth Township expects to bring in around $10.6 million in revenue in 2026, according to its budget. The Elizabeth Forward School District brought in $52 million in revenue during the 2024-2025 school year.
“If done correctly, properly, there should be minimal impact with respect to water, power, environmental,” Hendricks said. “The real benefit is construction jobs for the years to build it. But after that, there’s nominal traffic, nominal impact on township resources and very significant tax revenue.”
According to a June email from Hendricks, the 12-building layout and the gas plant would generate 225 permanent jobs, which could change depending on the final size of the project. Construction would involve hundreds of jobs, he said Tuesday.
Walls said during an interview Monday that he could not comment on the revenue figures because they were not prepared by the township or local taxing bodies. Walls also stressed that the development is still in the discussion phase.
“I don’t believe it is my job as an elected official to necessarily use my own opinion on whether I support or don’t support something,” Walls said, adding that he needed to hear from constituents at the October town hall.
“We don’t want it. These kinds of proposals, these kinds of projects to this scale, do not belong in Elizabeth Township.”
Scott Taylor, Elizabeth Township Resident & PET President
Taylor said that while he understands the need for municipal tax revenue, he opposes the project because it’s an “industrial facility going into a residential neighborhood.” PET was originally formed to oppose a power plant previously intended for the site.
Plans for site have shifted
The site is currently owned by Buena Vista Solar, which purchased the property in 2022 for $1, and is locally known as the “Fiore Property.” A former U.S. Steel landfill site, it was once considered as a potential location for a now-cancelled power plant site. Hendricks said in an email that around 220 acres of the site are “not contaminated.”
In a June 22 email, Hendricks said he entered into an agreement to purchase the property. He declined Tuesday to say when that agreement will be finalized.
The proposed Elizabeth Township data center would be Hendricks’ fourth and his first in Western Pennsylvania. Hendricks entered a similar agreement to purchase 705 acres in Penn Forest for a planned data center development there, but declined to discuss it and his other data center projects on Tuesday.
When asked about why he chose the site, Hendricks said he was approached by someone marketing the property. That individual was not a representative of Buena Vista Solar, he said.
Hendricks created Hendricks Group Developers, LLC in 2020, according to Department of State records. The company has previously concentrated in real estate development.
Over the summer the site proposal went through revisions, including moving some of the data buildings away from Rolling Hills Village, a community of manufactured homes near the proposed site.
“Our goal is to make sure we have a thorough understanding so we can make informed decisions that are in the best interest of Elizabeth Township and our residents,” Township Manager Tammy Firda said in an email to Hendricks.
In his emails, Hendricks pointed to Project Atlas, a 410-acre data center site in South Whitehall in Lehigh County, as “a good example of how to educate a community about a data center proposal.” The project has seen significant community pushback.
State lawmaker ‘leaning against’
Data center developments across the country have encountered pushback from local residents concerned about noise and their water and electricity usage. Allegheny County Council unanimously voted to ban large data centers on county-owned property last month as municipalities contemplate or implement data center construction moratoriums.
Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order this summer requiring data centers to follow stricter environmental and transparency standards. Under the order, developers have to pledge to abide by certain clean energy and job creation requirements.
In a Monday interview, state Rep. Andrew Kuzma, R-Elizabeth Township, said that he is neutral on the project, but “leaning against” it. He brought up concerns around data centers broadly, including water use and pollution controls. Kuzma said he also doubts that the project will come to fruition without a dedicated end user.
“I’ve been involved in a lot of projects … The odds are not in favor of this happening for reasons outside of township dynamics and permitting,” he said, adding that his support or opposition to the project will reflect his constituents’ views on it.
Homes opposite the proposed data center site near Henderson Road in Elizabeth Township on Oct. 4. Developer Tim Hendricks revised the site plans after meeting with township officials. (Photo by Lucas Dufalla/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
Hendricks said he has spoken to potential end users but declined to name them.
Hendricks said he believes there’s a “very likely chance” the proposal advances based on his “track record with dealing with these types of projects.”
He added that he believes residents will be more “favorably inclined” to the project after the town hall. “I didn’t say they’ll support it,” he said. “They’ll be less opposed to it when they find out the rest of the information.”
Hendricks has not formally submitted plans or building permits for the site, according to Kuzma.
Alison Steele, executive director of the Environmental Health Project, a public health nonprofit headquartered in Pittsburgh, said there are two primary aspects of a data center’s health impacts: the center itself and the power source for it.
Many data centers in Western Pennsylvania rely on natural gas generation for power, said Steele. Proximity to fracking operations has been linked to increased cancer risks, asthma attacks and low birth weight.
“An expansion of data centers is going to mean, fundamentally, an expansion of the gas industry,” Steele said.
Similar to other industrial facilities, data centers can emit sounds across a range of frequencies, partially owing to the centers’ cooling technologies. Steele raised concerns around the “constant low-frequency hum” generated by the centers and pointed to the health outcomes linked to noise pollution exposure, such as an increased risk for heart disease.
Editor’s note: This story has been revised to include comments received after initial publication.
Lucas Dufalla is the Southern Communities Reporter at Pittsburgh’s Public Source. He can be reached at lucas@publicsource.org.
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