Plans for a data center and power generation development in Clinton Township,PA, include 20 data-center buildings, each 118,000 square feet, on a total parcel acreage of just over 800.
This article was originally published in The River Reporter.
By LIAM MAYO
BROWNDALE, PA — “The proposed project is a 682-acre industrial data center campus located in Wayne County, PA,” reads the plans. “This project proposes the construction of twenty (20) data center buildings, two (2) on-site power generation facilities and, subsequently, two (2) customer substations, a water-treatment building, parking, utilities, landscaping and stormwater management necessary to adequately support the construction and functioning of the campus.”
The River Reporter reviewed the plans subsequent to a Pennsylvania state Right To Know Law request. The plans likely will be presented publicly at a Wednesday, June 3 7 p.m. meeting of the Clinton Township Planning Commission.
NEPA developer Linde Corporation currently owns the parcel of land in question, land that is identified as Wayne County Tax Map Number 06-2-0230-0006. The corporation has talked with another company regarding building the data center on that parcel, according to a February 4 email from executive vice president Christopher Langel, included in the development plans as proof that the Lackawanna River Basin Sewer Authority will be able to serve the project.
“We are working with a company who has an option with us on our 811-acre property to the east of 247 in Forest City to build a power plant,” reads the email. (A request for a will-serve letter for sewer service to the proposed data center buildings came in a follow-up email dated May 5.) “They have asked us to assist with will-serve letters during their due diligence stages… The company is Forest City Energy Center LLC and has its principal place of business at 800 Town and Country Boulevard, #500, Houston, TX, 77024.”
800 Town and Country Boulevard #500 is listed on easyoffices.com as “a new kind of workspace” offering private offices and coworking desks. The River Reporter could not immediately locate business information for a “Forest City Energy Center LLC.”
The proposed data center buildings cluster on the western half of the site, with a group of nine located in the top left, another group of nine below it and two more slightly below that. Each cluster of nine has a customer substation adjoining it, with the southern substation located so it also adjoins the cluster of two.
Each data center building is listed at 118,000 square feet. Each are noted on the plans as “2S 12 Data Halls,” with the “2S” potentially indicating that the buildings are two stories.
Two natural gas generation facilities are proposed for the eastern end of the site, with one in the top right corner and one in the bottom right corner.
The green outlines the Linde Corporation holdings in Wayne County, as selected on the Wayne County, PA Parcel and Address map; the pink provides the rough location of the data center buildings; the blue provides the rough location of the customer substations; the orange provides the rough location of the power generation facilities. The River Reporter viewed the plans submitted for a data center. (RR graphic by Liam Mayo)
The plans were submitted on April 30. Amendments are listed as having taken place on May 5 and May 19.
Preliminary environmental review documents included with the plans indicate that the project is within the range of the federally listed northern long-eared bat and the Indiana bat. The PA Game Commission deferred comments on the potential impacts to federally listed species to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources responded that “no impact is anticipated to threatened and endangered species and/or special concern species and resources.”
A preliminary review from the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) identified a high probability of National Register-eligible archeological sites within the project area, and recommended a Phase 1 archeological survey. A Phase 1 archeological survey conducted by the engineering firm LaBella, submitted as part of the plans, concluded that “no additional investigation is warranted at this time.”
The LaBella survey also identified the property as registered with the Wayne County Clean and Green program. The program offers reduced tax assessment on eligible agricultural and woodland properties.
In a questionnaire dated April 2, filled out and included as part of LaBella’s archeological survey, Langel checked boxes labelled “selling the property” and “other” in answer to “purpose of the assessment.”
“While the property is not currently ‘for sale,’ we are doing our due diligence in engineering and environmental studies to determine best use of property,” Langel wrote.
The plans also include estimated peak totals for water and sewer usage. Water is projected to be provided by the Pennsylvania-American Water Company and sewer is projected to be provided by the Lackawanna River Sewer Authority.
The anticipated peak water demand is estimated at 100,000 gallons per day for the power generation facility and 840,000 gallons per day for the data center campus. The anticipated peak sewer demand is 10,000 gallons per day for the power generation plant and 40,000 gallons per day for the data center campus.
Image: A view of Clinton Township, Wayne County, PA. (Liam Mayo)
Where will they get that quantity of water?