A Community Rejected the Build of a US$100 Billion Data Center

[Hawk256]

Yes and people used to work in factories with hazardous dust and no ventilation. Home burning coal for warmth with serious smog and health problems in cities were part of the norm. Factories belched foul smoke and workers were employed without hearing protection alongside deafening machines. But times have changed. There are new environmental laws. Industries emitting pollution are penalized and there are health and safety laws that recognize that people ought be able to live in comfort without being exposed to hazardous materials or excessive noise. People living in developed countries have different expecations compared with what was tolerated last century.

I'm just wondering how modern computers and air conditioning systems are belching toxins into the sky and creating a hum that is hurting people. And I'm not talking a century ago. A lot of these type of factories are still running to this day. Have a friend that working in an extrusion plant. They have huge rollers that stretch plastic into fiber. The rolls vibrate and you can feel them in the parking lot. Another friend works in a carpet mill and you can feel the machinery running in the parking lot as well.

 

[Balifrog]

There are new environmental laws.

Way too much of them, and some plainly ridiculous.

Wind turbines generate permanent noice, without speaking about the destruction of the visual aspect of the environment. Still most governments continue to built them.

 

[Bob]

I'm wondering if in the past large auto factories were quiet? What about other large factories that required very large machines that ran 24/7. Something tells me they weren't silent. It was common in the US for the houses to built in very close vicinity to the factories so workers would walk to work. Same with people close to subways or train tracks and stations. How have they survived all these years with the constant noises? A data center seems like it would have a fraction of the noise of the aforementioned.

I don't think there were thousands of auto factories running round the clock though, and noise from them and other factories, mines, and other industries wasn't the constant low buzz like from cooling fans. It seems like abandoned underground mines would be good place for data centers.

 

[Hawk256]

I don't think there were thousands of auto factories running round the clock though, and noise from them and other factories, mines, and other industries wasn't the constant low buzz like from cooling fans. It seems like abandoned underground mines would be good place for data centers.

Practically every large office building in the world has a large number of computers running and large HVAC systems (which require cooling fans) running 24/7 with no complaints. There are only 1,189 hyper scale large data factories in the entire world. There are 7.5 million large factories that potentially make much more noise and pollution but not a peep about them?

 

[harryopal1]

Practically every large office building in the world has a large number of computers running and large HVAC systems (which require cooling fans) running 24/7 with no complaints. There are only 1,189 hyper scale large data factories in the entire world. There are 7.5 million large factories that potentially make much more noise and pollution but not a peep about them?

"... not a peep about them..." doesn't sound right. Attached is a thread to the US National Institute for Safety and Health with data that shows there have been quite a few "peeps" about the impact on workers' health with industrial noise.

Overall Statistics – All U.S. Industries

View hearing loss statistics among workers in all U.S. industries.

www.cdc.gov

It seems your argument is that there is noise everywhere so the concerns about large data factories and never ending intrusive humming should be dismissed.

 

[pantaiema]

When it comes to governments deciding between the really big companies and concerns of local residents it is usually the big companies that win and there is the fall back argument;..... it's in the national interest.

I agree to some extent; we have seen this case exists and it is not uncommon in countries where corruption is the norm and democracy is not respected as a foundation of a fair society. But if there is strong public pressure and a broad consensus among experts, leading scientists, and other professionals, governments will often listen or risk being voted out of office or removed from power.

In other areas for example, there have been ongoing debates over free-market capitalism versus socialism, balancing economic growth from fossil fuels against environmental protection, and banning human genome editing for the purpose of creating a designer baby. In many cases, public opinion combined with expert consensus has significantly influenced government policy.

There is also a consensus among the experts and international NGOs on sustainable development that an Effective policymaking including major infrastructure project, will need to consider the balance of these three pillars, e.g 3Es (Economy, Environment, and Equity/Ethical Social Justice) and/or 3Ps (People, Planet, Profit/Prosperity), This 3Es and 3Ps have been discussed in here when people are discussing the waste management.

Waste Management in Indonesia

Huh? What would the looting be over again? The cost of a bag? If it were just one plastic bag, it might not seem like a big deal. But what about daily shopping? Every time you visit the public market and purchase items from various vendors on the same day, you receive a plastic bag. Even for...

www.expatindo.org

Also Post #12. This is an example how the government takes control to halt a data centre project that might cause problem to local community. presumably after seeking advice from expert.

No Electricity Enough for Data Centers in US

From https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/article/the-united-states-could-face-a-major-electricity-shortfall-through-2030-bofa-says-185529669.html Title : The United States could face a major electricity shortfall through 2030, BofA says By Jake Conley , July 2026 Poster's Note : BofA = Bank of...

www.expatindo.org

 

[Hawk256]

Practically every large office building in the world has a large number of computers running and large HVAC systems (which require cooling fans) running 24/7 with no complaints. There are only 1,189 hyper scale large data factories in the entire world. There are 7.5 million large factories that potentially make much more noise and pollution but not a peep about them?

Considering how many there are, yes it is barely a peep. You are attaching stories of workers in the factories not people living around the factories which is what these arguments are about. It all just doesn't add up to me. We are getting softer and softer every day. How did computers and air conditioning get so dangerous over night?

 

[harryopal1]

Considering how many there are, yes it is barely a peep. You are attaching stories of workers in the factories not people living around the factories which is what these arguments are about. It all just doesn't add up to me. We are getting softer and softer every day. How did computers and air conditioning get so dangerous over night?

"How did computers and air conditioning get so dangerous over night?". It is not a matter of danger happening overnight as it takes some while for evidence to accumulate before people become aware of problems and then often a very very long time and a lot more evidence before authorities take action involving processes and products that have become widely used in societies. Take asbestos: A product that first began to be used thousands of years ago. From 1940 to 1980 there was a kind of golden age for asbestos being used for its fire resistance and insulating properties. There had been reports of miners in ancient times falling ill with exposure but it was 1906 before the first documented British death was recorded;. Through last century there were many warnings made by doctors and pathologists that asbestos was dangerous. In Australia a former journalist colleague of mine, Matt Peacock was responsbile in the 1980s for exposing the full dangers and the cover up by the company James Hardie about the frightening truth about just how many workers were suffering and dyiing with mesothelimonia brought on by ihhaling asbestos fibres and dust. Between 1982 and 2020 there were found to have been 20,064 people diagnoised with mesothelimonia.