In southern New Jersey, a lawsuit is spotlighting a complaint that is becoming more common as data centers proliferate. As The Guardian reported, residents living nearby say a nonstop mechanical drone can disturb sleep, shake their houses, and become exhausting over time.
Here's what to know
In Vineland, three neighbors have sued, saying noise from DataOne's large data center development reaches their properties, the outlet said.
The suit says the 350-megawatt DataOne project is generating sound that people living about a mile from the property experience as a nuisance..
Vineland resident Steve Brown, 63, said the sound is now something he cannot ignore.
"It woke me up probably around, I don't know, somewhere around 2 o'clock in the morning," Brown told The Guardian. "I couldn't get back to sleep, because once you hear it, it's all you can hear."
Laura Sheets, one of the attorneys, said the case reflects a wider pattern.
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"We have four cases that are being litigated in court against data centers for noise, and we're gearing up to file quite a few more," Sheets relayed to the publication.
Residents' unease has been heightened by how quickly the project took shape. The Guardian reported that the property was still a newly opened nine-hole public golf course in October 2024. By March 2025, the project was underway.
More background
Specialists say noise can carry serious health effects even if it receives less attention than data centers' power needs, water consumption, or pollution.
"The forgotten stepchild is noise," Jamie Banks, president of Quiet Communities Inc., declared to The Guardian.
The issue is growing in urgency as AI-related infrastructure continues to expand. Data centers are increasingly being built to run artificial intelligence systems.
Those same facilities can also put pressure on local electric grids, use significant volumes of water, and fuel worries about rising utility bills. There are potential positives like optimizing clean energy systems, to be sure.
According to experts speaking with the outlet, low-frequency noise can be particularly troubling because it travels far and may register as vibration.
A second plaintiff, Michael Gentile, said he contacted local officials multiple times.
"I said, 'I know you guys are testing for sound, but what about vibration?' I said, 'Can you feel that?' I could feel it on my porch," Gentile recalled, per The Guardian. "They don't have any tools to do that. I said, 'Well that doesn't help me now.'"
What's being done?
DataOne says it has been trying to lessen the impact.
In a statement to The Guardian, company spokesperson Naomi Race said the developer had built "a northerly wall … as an additional layer to mitigate any sound from the construction site," adjusted construction timing, and planned to use "quiet fuel cells to power the facility." Race also said DataOne had retained a sound-mitigation specialist.
Nebius says it is coordinating with DataOne as well, the publication noted.
Outside this case, pressure for tighter sound oversight increased after Quiet Communities prevailed in a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency over noise regulation.
Zwerling said facility design can significantly affect how much noise reaches nearby homes.
"If [data centers] are designed and properly built, they can be relatively quiet," he explained to The Guardian. "On the other hand, if there is no consideration to the sound emissions from the facility, the facility can have impacts that are virtually catastrophic to the people nearby."
Where can I learn more?
The Vineland case is one piece of a larger clash over what AI data centers mean for nearby communities. Other towns are dealing with the same kind of around-the-clock noise, while some are fighting over higher electric bills and the push to build new energy infrastructure.
• In Dowagiac, neighbors have sued a Michigan data center over nonstop noise.
• In Texas, residents say nonstop noise carries for miles from AI data centers.
• In New Jersey, officials warn bills could rise 20 percent as AI data centers grow.
• In Ohio, gas plants are being approved before neighbors can weigh data-center impacts.
• Across the US, communities say the backlash gets brutal as AI strains water and electricity.
What starts as a complaint about noise often grows into something bigger. For many communities, datacenters are now wrapped up in the same set of concerns: utility costs, quality of life, and how quickly new power projects move ahead.
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