PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Opposition to data centers in Philadelphia is growing. On Monday, a coalition kicked off a campaign to get City Council to declare a moratorium on data center development.
Senia Lopez is with the 215 People’s Alliance, one of half a dozen groups forming the No Data Centers in Philly coalition. Organizers said they’ve surpassed 2,000 signatures on their petition to City Council, and they gathered more as they rallied outside City Hall.
“City Council can either leave the door open for corporations to shape our neighborhoods around their interest or it can establish rules to protect the people that live here,” Lopez said.
The group said more than 500 communities nationwide have passed moratoriums, wary of the noise, pollution and tax on the power grid.
One data center is near the Northeast Philadelphia Airport, two miles from Lopez’s house. The other is at the old Southwest Philly refinery site now known as the Bellwether District. That’s near where Sonya Sanders of Philly Thrive lives.
“People in my neighborhood are still sick and suffering from the pollution of oil refineries that went on for generations, and now Big Tech wants to come in and do it all over again?”
Physician Daniel Wolk said the health impacts of data centers are real; in addition to strain on the grid, soaring electricity prices and noise, pollutants are associated with a variety of illnesses.
“Increased rates of asthma in young children, cardiovascular disease, cancer, dementia and lung disease,” Wolk said.
A spokesperson for Council President Kenyatta Johnson said city council members and Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration “continue discussions on the future of data centers in the city. At this time, no legislation or resolution has been introduced in City Council.”
The Bellwether site is in Johnson’s district.
Parker seems not to favor a moratorium. A statement from her office said she'll sign an executive order this week establishing a Task Force to devise standards for data centers that protect infrastructure, water supply and neighborhoods.
"By putting rigorous guardrails in place, we will ensure that any tech infrastructure serves our vision of a safer, cleaner, and greener Philadelphia," the statement read. Parker has veto power over a legislative moratorium.
