Lackawanna County Studies 12-Plus Data Centers' Combined Pollution Impact

1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 1

Lackawanna County officials are assessing the total air-quality and health effects of more than a dozen proposed data centers and power plants before deciding on approvals.
The study breaks with the usual local review process, which examines each project separately rather than measuring how clustered facilities could affect the same valley and nearby neighborhoods together.
County Commissioner Bill Gaughan said the area may have more data-center proposals than anywhere else in Pennsylvania, and that officials rarely get reliable data on overlapping emissions or cumulative health risks.
The effort comes as opposition to data-center pollution grows nationwide, with county leaders hoping the review could set a precedent for how other communities evaluate large clusters of projects.