A sticky hot gymnasium tucked behind the Springdale Borough Building had the air of a science fair June 10 as advocates, experts and townsfolk flitted between display boards breaking down the workings of a planned data center.
The public event, dubbed an “open house” by developers Allegheny DC was intended to reassure residents of the plan’s benefits after a contentious approval process that concluded with a divided council vote in December.
Representatives of New York-funded Allegheny DC maintain they are responsive to concerns and have taken steps to reduce noise by designing acoustical barriers, such as mufflers and enclosures.
“What we’ve been trying to do is show people that we are willing to make additional investments to mitigate sound,” said Brian Regli, a consultant for Allegheny DC.
Still, local residents and regional activists say they want Allegheny County’s regulatory bodies to halt, or restrain, the process. A group of protesters organized by the Breathe Project gathered outside the building before the open house began.
“This is not a done deal,” said Marty Garrigan, of nearby Springdale Township, who urged people to put pressure on the county Health Department.
In an open letter to the county issued Wednesday, critics of the Springdale plan urge officials to require the developers to obtain an air quality permit before progressing to the land development plan, known as a SALDO, and to ensure public process protocols for Environmental Justice areas are followed. Environmental Justice areas, designated by the state Department of Environmental Protection, require additional public processes around approvals for air quality permits.
The letter calls for “a process that is transparent, well-publicized, and makes technically-informed review accessible,” to produce a “strong and binding permit that uses the best available technology and protects public health.”
A spokesperson for County Executive Sara Inamorato declined to comment at time of press.
Residents who spoke during the protest voiced concerns about air pollution, noise, health impacts and the possibility of rising utility costs brought on by the center’s voracious energy demands.
Regli confirmed the center would be powered by the grid, with diesel generators installed as a backup. Regli said the current gap between supply and demand that’s led to spiking electricity costs reflects a policy problem and that his company supports solutions that would put some onus on data centers.
“This is the thing people are worried about,” he said. “We are designing the data center to be flexible in that regard. And ultimately, I hope the regulation catches up for us.”
For many locals, the prospects of a large, loud industrial facility lodged beside homes and public spaces remains a concern.
Resident Carole Brennan, a retired therapist, said she worked with many patients for whom noise creates distraction and anxiety.
“We do not need a data center,” she said. “Our children are much more important.”
Annie Hirsh, a senior associate at BABICHacoustics, said her firm is working with the manufacturers “to try and come up with some improvements in terms of the noise.”
That has meant changing the original position of the enclosures and creating more substantial acoustic barriers. Hirsh said during normal operations, the center will likely generate noise on par with the general background noise, so the focus is on reducing the impact at night.
“We’re trying to get it down to not-annoying levels,” she said.
The loudest times will be whenever a power supply issue requires the generators to run, Hirsh said.
The generators are also the only on-site cause of air pollution, according to Amanda Black, Vice President and Pittsburgh-based environmental consultant CEC.
Black said developers are working on a plan to show they can keep below air pollution thresholds set by the Environmental Protection Agency for 1-hour, 24-hour and annual time periods.
“In order to get our permit, which means that we can’t construct without this permit, we have to do our studies and our modeling to show that we will not exceed those standards,” Black said.
Regli said he welcomes the public scrutiny and will ensure the plans comply with all parts of the process.
For critics, the community engagement, and the purported tweaks, might not be enough.
“They’re putting lipstick on a monster,” Garrigan said.
Jamie Wiggan is deputy editor at Pittsburgh’s Public Source. He can be reached at jamie@publicsource.org.
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