Residents in one Massachusetts neighborhood say the data center next door is so loud it can sound "like a jet engine," and now a new lawsuit accuses public officials and the facility's developer of bypassing regulations meant to shield nearby families from pollution and noise.
According to a report from Yale Law School, the complaint, which was filed April 27 in Massachusetts Superior Court on behalf of 10 Lowell residents, comes weeks after locals won a moratorium on data center development in the city.
The lawsuit challenges the further expansion of a 350,000-square-foot data center in the Sacred Heart and Back Central neighborhoods.
The suit argues that state regulators and the company unlawfully worked around permitting rules, even though both neighborhoods are recognized by the state as "Environmental Justice populations" because of their large minority populations.
According to the filing, the 14-acre facility is next to homes, a public park, and just a block from a public preschool for children with special needs, as Yale Law School reported.
Residents allege the site has disrupted daily life for years through air pollution, noise, dust, and traffic, among other impacts.
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The proposed expansion, led by the Markley Group, the owner of the data center facility, would add 27 industrial diesel generators and 16 cooling towers to the existing site.
The complaint, filed by the local group Honest Future for Lowell, alleges that the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection signed an "Administrative Consent Order" with the Markley Group while residents were already challenging the project's air permit, allowing the company to move forward without undergoing the full public review process.
Plaintiffs are asking the court to throw out that consent order and block the allegedly unlawful workaround.
"It's scandalous," law school student Gil Damon said in the Yale report. "Behind closed doors, these Massachusetts officials collaborated with the Markley Group — whose data center they were legally required to regulate — to expose Lowell residents to even more diesel fumes. This kind of conduct undermines trust in government."
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The lawsuit also cites Environmental Protection Agency data showing that the area surrounding the data center ranks in the 97th percentile nationwide for exposure to nitrogen oxide pollution and in the 90th percentile for adult asthma rates.
As communities across the country grapple with the rapid expansion of energy-hungry data centers, this case highlights what can happen when they land next to homes and communities.
According to one plaintiff, the lawsuit represents a long-overdue step toward accountability.
"This is an important step forward in getting the respect our neighborhood has not had for the past 11 years," plaintiff Jacob Fortes said, per Yale Law School.
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