How to Stop Data Centers

Pennsylvania State Zoning Laws favor all types of development and require every community to allow every possible land use proposal in its zoning ordinance. Furthermore, PA Law provides no protection against the over-saturation of Data Center development. Carbon County already has Data Center proposals in Nesquehoning, Penn Forest, and Summit Hill. Our land prices are not as high as those in other areas of the state, and our population skews to the elderly and lower middle class, which means a land use that would cause an uproar in Bucks County can be approved without a ripple in Carbon. Places like the Panther Valley area also face high unemployment, declining housing stock, underfunded schools, and inadequate infrastructure, which means that Data Center proposals are welcomed by many residents. We can still make a difference by doing the following:

• We can ensure that the decision-makers in the Boroughs of Nesquehoning and Summit Hill, Penn Forest Township, and Carbon County see the whole picture, not just the rosy picture the Data Center developer paints. Residents need to know exactly how the Data Center’s use of electricity and water will affect our community, the Lehigh River - our primary source of local economic revenue, and the full consequences of this development.

• We can ensure that Data Center developers like Bitfarms keep the many promises they have made by calling out any deviation from those promises and holding municipal governments accountable for monitoring the Data Center development.

• We can request accurate, complete information regarding data center ordinances and resolutions, permit applications, tax exemption requests and status, and planning documents from the municipalities and via the PA Office of Open Records (OOR) process.

• We can participate in the public meetings held in the Boroughs of Nesquehoning and Summit Hill and in Penn Forest Township, which are in the process of adopting a Zoning Ordinance change that will place limits on Data Center development. The Ordinance must include noise limitations, light pollution protections, require a study of the impact of water withdrawals, and limit on the amount of water that can be withdrawn. We need to monitor the development of the Ordinances and ensure each provides the maximum protection permitted by law.

If you have access to an active community Facebook page, or you can write letters to the editor of the Times News (tneditor@tnonline.com -limited to 300 words), or you can spread the word about the impacts of the proposed Data Centers in other ways, please do so. At present, the only information the public has about the Bitfarms proposal is what was presented at the Bitfarms' meetings in Nesquehoning and in a very pro-Data Center article in the TimesNews. Our County has been damaged by many prior developments that brought short-term economic gain to a few and lasting environmental damage to many. Attached to this post is a link to the summary of Bitfarms presentation at the Nesquehoning Rec Center during a series of 4 meetings in November (the file will download as a PDF).

Notes_from_Bitfarm_Mtgs_11_2025.pdf

Download PDF • 43KB

Many thanks to the Save Carbon County members who monitored every meeting and gathered this information.