A new proposal for a 491,811-square-foot electric power generating plant has intensified the ongoing debate over industrial development in Archbald Borough. Developer Jim Marzolino recently submitted a zoning permit application for the facility, which would be located on the west side of Eynon Jermyn Road—less than 1,000 feet from Staback Park and approximately half a mile from Valley View Intermediate School. The site sits directly across from the Highway Auto Parts junkyard, where Marzolino previously applied to build "Project Boson," a nearly 620,000-square-foot data center. This latest application adds a significant energy component to a corridor already slated for a massive influx of technology infrastructure.
The scale of development along this stretch of Eynon Jermyn Road and Business Route 6 is unprecedented, with six separate data center campuses totaling 51 individual buildings currently proposed for the borough. If all projects move forward, a less than mile-long area spanning from Staback Park to the Jermyn border would be home to 30 data centers and the newly proposed power plant. Residents and local officials have expressed growing alarm over the proximity of these heavy industrial facilities to residential neighborhoods and educational centers. This proposal arrives just as a newly restructured borough council begins to re-evaluate the previous administration's handling of the "AI boom" and its long-term impact on the community's landscape.
