Panther Valley Data Center Damage

Thank you to Steve Chuckra for sharing his Speaker Notes from the PA-DEP National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit hearing on Thursday - in addition to being quoted in the TimesNews Lehighton, his Speaker Notes provide a lot of useful information and are well worth the time to read:

"The proposed Keel Infrastructure data center site, near Nesquehoning Creek, is jammed between two Exceptional Value trout streams: Broad Run and Dennison Run. According to PennFuture, only 2% of Pennsylvania’s waterways hold this designation. These streams are considered the state’s most pristine and ecologically valuable, and Pennsylvania law requires maintaining their water quality at its current level (WVIA Public Media). Both streams are tributaries of the Lehigh watershed. In 2023, American Rivers listed the Lehigh River as one of the ten most threatened watersheds in the United States. This is due to the proliferation of warehouses and truck terminals in the Poconos. However, terminals and warehouses aren’t the only threats to the watershed and economies that rely on tourism. Any project that fragments and degrades high-value streams and wetlands risks unalterable damage to this critically important, delicate, and already threatened area. According to the Pennsylvania Tourism Office, Carbon County generated $564M in tourism revenue in 2022. In 2018, the Carbon Chamber commissioned a report to understand the Return on the Environment at report available at https://www.carboncountychamber.org/carbon-county-roe-report/. The report emphasizes that more than just pretty places, Carbon County’s forested ridges and stream valleys are productive assets that generate over $800 million annually (in 2018, likely significantly more in 2026) in avoided costs for natural system services and air pollution removal, revenues from outdoor recreation and local and state taxes, and increased tax revenues from real estate premiums. Its resources have historically provided essential goods and services to ensure the survival and economic prosperity of residents and the millions of people who live close by and downstream. The societal benefits data centers can provide are compelling. However, data center sites should not degrade or destroy high-value natural and economic resources in the name of progress. Currently, developers appear to use a selection process that favors building data centers in areas that lack the economic power to resist them. The proposed site is in a wetland area that zoning ordinances should have protected. The wetlands provide natural protection against stormwater runoff, bank erosion, and soil and silt infiltration into streams that feed the Lehigh River. Given the projected amount of impervious surface at the site, Save Carbon County recommends mandatory water quality testing of the two EV streams and Nesquehoning Creek. We recommend monitoring include pH, specific conductance, nitrogen, depth, and stream temperature testing, that testing be conducted and recorded in real time, and that water quality statistics be visible on a publicly accessible website. The technologies required to support this recommendation are readily available and relatively inexpensive. We also recommend stream testing before construction to establish a baseline. Save Carbon County recommends developing action plans to remediate and restore impacted areas in the watershed if testing reveals degradation of the EV streams or Nesquehoning Creek. Pennsylvania is currently in a two-year drought, which has affected waterways in the Poconos. Two streams in the Lehigh watershed, Coplay Creek and Jordan Creek, dried up completely in 2024 and 2025, killing all the fish and aquatic life they supported. These conditions are likely to persist in the coming years. The planned culvert crossing of Dennison Run is concerning. We understand riprap will be added to the outflow apron and the sides of access roads. However, it does little to protect from fuel, tire particles, and 6PPD-Quinine tire coating, which is especially lethal to fish. Vegetation and filtering wing walls should also protect the creek from toxic run-off. Save Carbon County believes that if data centers are built, they should be constructed in ways that do not impact the environment or the quality of life for Carbon County residents. Destroying exceptional value streams is contrary to the idea of societal benefit and progress."