A U-Haul decked with a makeshift sign declaring “SPRINGDALE DATA CENTER IS NOT A DONE DEAL” sat across from the borough building Wednesday as protesters in fluorescent green T-shirts began to assemble.
Speakers took turns denouncing the data center plans in prepared speeches, then a spirit of improv took over. One attendee who said she had driven to the Allegheny Valley town from Pittsburgh performed a song she’d written for the occasion on a three-quarter-sized acoustic guitar. Then the crowd broke into a chorus of “we don’t need your damn pollution” to the tune of Pink Floyd.
The carnival-like protest came ahead of a county-led hearing on Dynamo DC’s plans to transform a former coal-fired power plant site into a mega data center campus.
With borough approval already secured in December, opponents from Springdale and beyond see Allegheny County’s land development review as their last chance to halt the project.
“Make your voice be heard, our lives depend on it,” said Cathy Mager of Springdale from the parking lot podium.
People hold signs in Springdale Borough ahead of a rally held by Save Allegheny Valley Environment (SAVE) before a meeting held by Allegheny County Economic Development regarding a proposal for a data center campus nearby, on Oct. 28. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source) 
Dianne Peterson, center, of O’Hara Township, arrives in Springdale Borough for a rally held by Save Allegheny Valley Environment (SAVE) on Oct. 28. ”It’s more than this, the data center,” said Peterson of her concern about the implications beyond Springdale. “It has other ramifications.” (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source) 
Robin Lesko, manager of Western Pennsylvania Food and Water Watch, reacts during a rally outside the Springdale Borough Building ahead of the Allegheny County-convened meeting on a proposed data center. (Photo by Danny Arensberg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
Inside, a couple hundred people filled the borough gymnasium for a four-hour hearing punctuated by whoops and jeers. Concerns about noise and pollution from 124 proposed diesel generations dominated public comments, while building trades representatives promoting construction jobs drew boos.
The Oct. 28 meeting was the second of two public hearings led by Allegheny County Economic Development, following a virtual session on Oct. 14.
Dynamo DC’s initial plan submitted to the department in September generated 97 comments from the county. Those range from pointing out a lack of detail over the intended diesel generation to questions about tree canopies and ADA compliance.
An engineer representing the developer said during the meeting they have responded to all of them in a letter addressed to the county.
“All of the comments you saw outlined tonight are addressed in the letter,” she said.
‘Typically a boring process’
Allegheny County’s Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (SALDO) process, required in this case because Springdale lacks its own land development ordinance, allows residents across the county to attend hearings and register comments through Nov. 30.
Allegheny County’s Springdale data center timeline
- June 22: Allegheny DC Propco LLC submitted its application for preliminary land development approval and related documents.
- Sept. 16: The county responded with 97 comments.
- Oct. 14: The county held a virtual public meeting, including an updated presentation by the developer and public comment.
- Oct. 28: The county held an in-person public meeting at the Springdale Borough Municipal Building.
- Nov. 30: Deadline for written public comments, which can be submitted here
- January 26, 2027: Deadline for decision by county on the application
The plan and the public’s comments will be reviewed by the Planning Division of Allegheny County Economic Development and its engineering and legal consultants. They’ll evaluate it all against the county’s development standards, ACED Director Lauren Connelly wrote in an email. “The use itself has been approved by the Springdale Borough,” she added.
Speaking Oct. 28, Anna Skipper Jewart, a lawyer with Babst Calland representing the developer, emphasized SALDO’s limitations.
“This is typically a boring process,” Jewart said. “This is a technical review.”
Generators a central concern
Most of the more than 40 speakers expressed concerns about the project’s potential impacts, including the noise and pollution that its 124 proposed diesel generators could produce.
“I don’t need a study to tell me that living close to 124 diesel generators that will be tested once a month will not be good for my health,” said Carole Reinert, a Springdale resident who spoke at the hearing.
Other speakers cited safety concerns, a decline in property values, the center’s water usage and the 97 discrepancies the county cited in the application.
“I’m not against progress, but progress should never come at the expense of people’s health, homes and peace of mind,” said resident Sharon Spirk. “Data centers can be moved, but we cannot move 120 years of memory, hope and dreams from the people of Springdale.”
Springdale Borough by the numbers:
– 3,319 residents
– 52.3 years median age (vs. 40.6 in Allegheny County)
– 97% white (vs. 76% countywide)
– $65,893 median household income (vs. $78,548 countywide)
– 4% in poverty (vs. 11.5% countywide)
– 69% of housing units owner-occupied (vs. 65% countywide)
– 53% voted for Donald Trump in 2024 (vs. 39% countywide)
Source: American Community Survey data analyzed by Census Reporter and Allegheny County Elections Division
Jewart said the majority of the generators would only operate in emergency situations, though they will be tested on a monthly basis. Under the terms of Springdale’s approval, Jewart said, generators can only be tested during normal business hours, and they can’t be tested all at once.
The goal of the testing is to “limit both the emissions as well as the sound that’s coming from it at any given time,” said Jewart.
Sandy Ransom, a 72-year Springdale resident, lives around six blocks from the site. Before the hearing, she said she’s mainly concerned with the generators, which she said will produce noise and carcinogens.
“Springdale has been a dying community for a long time, and there are a lot of people in town that are really trying to build it up … I would hate to see the town ruined by a data center,” she said.
She’s also skeptical of the developer’s promises of jobs and tax revenue.
“People are saying we’re going to get big money,” she said. “But if it affects our health, is it worth it?”
A few at the meeting spoke out in favor.
Several building trade union representatives touted the promise of construction jobs and the wages that would be spent in Springdale. Almost all of their testimonies were largely drowned out by jeers from the audience.
“This data race needs to be won here in America. It starts in Southwestern Pennsylvania,” said Tom Platt, secretary/treasurer of the Pittsburgh Regional Building Trades Council. “Projects like this do bring money into the region.”
“I will gladly put this in my backyard. I’ll tell you that,” said Platt.
After borough approval, regional opposition
The evening’s attendance reflected pent-up concern about data centers across the region. The proposed site use was approved in December by the borough council, whose restriction against speakers living outside the square-mile borough irked many residents of nearby communities who felt they would share in those impacts.
Alexis Fitzgerald, of Pittsburgh, said she grew up visiting family in Springdale, though she’s never lived there. Now, as an environmental educator, she said she is concerned about the possible ecological costs from noise and pollution.
“The water pollution impacts the entire food chain,” she said.
Other data center proposals are popping up in and around Allegheny County, with accompanying public backlash. In Elizabeth Township, about 20 miles away, an Eastern Pennsylvania developer’s early-stage plans for a 20-building data center campus along the Youghiogheny River drew boos and jeers from residents at a town hall earlier this month. That roughly 3-million-square-foot proposal is more than quadruple the size of the one in Springdale.
In Springdale, opposition, fronted by Save Allegheny Valley Environment (SAVE), has steadily risen since the plans were aired last fall.
A week before the SALDO hearing, SAVE members gathered at the Springdale restaurant From Italy, where participants circulated between letter-folding, hand-addressing and stamping tables. They prepared 4,700 letters for registered voters in Springdale Borough, the same-named township, Harmar and Cheswick. One SAVE member’s grandchildren decorated the back with Steelers iconography, flamingos and messages like “we love our air.”
A white board read: “GO TIME.”
Organizers discussed a door-knocking plan targeting 3,000 homes, ranging up the Alle-Kiski Valley to Upper Burrell, where there is an ongoing public process regarding a data center, and Frazer, where the sale of the Pittsburgh Mills Mall has spurred speculation. Alliances with the Climate Reality Project and Food and Water Watch could extend the reach into other parts of the Pittsburgh area in time to spur letters to the county prior to the Nov. 30 deadline for written input.
Should the application be denied, the developer is permitted to resubmit and start the process over. Jewart said the company would likely reapply if the application was denied.
The facility will also have to obtain an operating permit from the county Health Department, a process which also provides for public comment.
Stephanie Strasburg contributed reporting.
Jamie Wiggan is deputy editor at Pittsburgh’s Public Source and can be reached at jamie@publicsource.org.
Lucas Dufalla is the Southern Communities reporter at Pittsburgh’s Public Source and can be reached at lucas@publicsource.org.
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