Concerns over Springdale data center proposal bring protesters out for 2nd time this week

For the second time in a week, residents of Springdale and beyond took to Pittsburgh Street to protest plans for the construction of a data center where a coal-fired power plant once stood.

Around two dozen people carried signs and expressed thanks to drivers who honked their horns as they drove past them Saturday at what had been the entrance to the Cheswick Generating Station. It was more than double the number that had attended a rally Monday morning.

Allegheny DC Property Co. has proposed building a 565,000-square-foot hyperscale data center and a 200,000-square-foot mechanical cooling plant on the 47-acre site of the former power plant.

“I just think there’s so many uncertainties about the size of the plant they want to put in,” said Denise Luciana, who lives near Springdale High School with her husband, Mike. “It shouldn’t be in a residential area.”

Brian Regli, a consultant for Allegheny DC Property, could not be reached for comment Saturday.

Concerns about the data center’s impact touch on a variety of issues and subjects, including noise, lighting, electric bills, water and property values.

“There’s just too many unanswered questions, and I don’t think anyone knows the answers now,” Luciana said.

While no one was said to have organized or been leading Saturday’s protest, Marty Garrigan of Springdale Township was telling those there that Protect PT and other environmental groups would be at a community meeting scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Nov. 12 at From Italy, 1115 Lincoln Ave.

The borough’s planning commission is scheduled to reconvene on the project at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 17. Council is scheduled to continue hearing testimony from experts when it meets at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 24.

“These are the kind of decisions that will last for generations,” said Phoebe Reese of O’Hara. “It will determine the health of generations to come from this whole area, everyone who breathes the air.”

Reese said borough officials have cause to deny the developer’s requests for variances on issues such as the height of the building and fence, and the number of loading docks and parking spaces.

“We don’t have enough information from the developer,” she said. “They’ve been very vague.”

As it is for many, noise is the main concern of Garrigan, who grew up in the borough. He’s also concerned about light pollution from it and its impact on air quality, for people and animals alike.

“Why would a family want to move into a town where noise goes on 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week?” he said.

Nancy Weaver of Springdale said she’s not against data centers themselves, just them being in residential areas. She had also been at Monday’s protest.

Weaver said she started reading up on data centers after first hearing of the proposal.

“There’s not one of this capacity in the U.S.,” she said.

Weaver said she has a niece who lives near a data center in Virginia. While her niece is not directly affected by it, Weaver said her niece has heard from those closer to it whose water has been impacted.

“I’ve read nothing positive from the people that it impacts,” Weaver said. The developer “is telling us what we want to hear so it gets approved and goes in.”

Linda Schafer lives across from the power plant property in Duquesne Court.

“We had enough trouble with the stacks coming down,” she said, referring to the implosion of the power plant’s two stacks. “We don’t need additional problems.”

Schafer said there are other places where nobody lives nearby that would be better suited for a data center.

“It’s too close to residents,” she said.

Unlike many at the protest, Matt Lang has lived in Springdale for only a year to year and a half, so he didn’t experience living there with the power plant in operation. Since catching wind of the data center project, he’s been researching them and attending the governmental meetings.

“There’s conflicting data on both sides,” he said. “You should be informed either way.”

He’s come to be against it. Since he works from home, he’s worried about the amount of electricity the data center will use, and that it could lead to higher bills and outages.

“I feel that the risks outweigh the benefits,” he said.

Residents say the land — even if contaminated from years of use as a coal-fired power plant — could be used for other, less impactful and more beneficial purposes.

“They’re going for this and pushing for this so hard because it’s where they’ll make the most money,” Weaver said. “Unfortunately for the people who live here, it isn’t all about money.”

While Reese concedes she’s not an expert in brownfield development, she says the community should not have to pay for jobs and prosperity with its health.

Realistically, Weaver doesn’t think they’ll be able to stop it.

“But I’m not the type of person to give up,” she said.