ARCHBALD — The borough’s seventh hearing on its largest proposed data center campus turned up the volume on the noise impacts of nearly 600 large diesel generators needed to power 14 data centers during an emergency.
Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus’s 588 generators will significantly impact the health, safety and welfare of residents, the borough’s sound expert testified Monday.
“We’re talking about an increase in sound levels that, in my professional opinion, is unreasonable for the residents,” said J. Michael Spencer of JMS Acoustics in Bethlehem, Archbald’s expert acoustician. “I cannot think of one scenario in my entire 30-year career of consulting where I had that kind of a level of (noise) increase on a project.”
The hyperscale campus has demonstrated it will comply with noise regulations during normal operations, Spencer said.
The 3½-hour hearing drew one of the largest crowds. More than 600 people packed the Valley View High School auditorium. Close to a dozen Midvalley residents had the early opportunity to testify against the project, with the remainder of public comment scheduled for next month.
Brooklyn-based Cornell Realty Management LLC’s proposal to build 14 data centers, each 80-feet-tall with 202,340-square-foot footprints, above Business Route 6 and Wildcat Road, or Route 247, has emerged as one of the most controversial data center projects locally due to its size, location and utility demands.
Wildcat Ridge would require 1,600 megawatts, or 1.6 gigawatts, of electricity to operate. The campus would use a large concentration of diesel generators to meet those power demands and stay online during an emergency, collectively producing more electricity than the 1,485-megawatt Lackawanna Energy Center natural gas-fired power plant in neighboring Jessup.
While early concerns focused on the sound impacts from data centers’ cooling equipment, the generators needed to keep the facilities online during outages has become a central concern, due to both noise and air emissions.
Archbald’s zoning ordinance regulating data centers, which a divided council adopted in November amid significant pushback from the community, exempts backup generators from the borough’s noise limits during power outages and similar emergencies, as well as during routine generator testing and maintenance between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.
That exemption has no justification from a scientific standpoint, Spencer said.
“I believe that this exemption was specifically developed originally by data center people because there is no reason, from a scientific standpoint, looking at this from acoustics, to exempt the loudest sound sources on the site that have the ability to most negatively impact the health, safety and welfare of residents,” the borough’s sound expert said. “I cannot believe that this was something that a municipality just decided to put in.”
Despite that exemption, in testimony elicited through questions from Archbald’s special counsel, attorney Brett C. Flower, Spencer contended that meeting the standards of the borough’s noise ordinance does not mean the project won’t still negatively affect the community.
“I will say, in my career, that is more backup generators than I have ever seen co-located on one site,” Spencer said. “Overall, this particular application on this particular site has much more of a significant impact on the residents than I would expect from a typical data center application.”
The proposed data center campus would span 574.2 mountainside acres overlooking Archbald’s Eynon and Sturges sections.
Council will reconvene for its eighth hearing Aug. 4 at 5 p.m. to listen to public comment on the proposal and allow the developer to present rebuttal witnesses.
Check back for updates.
A public hearing on the proposed Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus at Valley View High School in Archbald, Pa., on Monday, July 13, 2026. (ISAAC DIAZ/STAFF PHOTO)
A sign reading “NO DATA CENTERS” leans against a row of auditorium chairs during a public hearing on the proposed Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus at Valley View High School in Archbald, Pa., on Monday, July 13, 2026. (ISAAC DIAZ/STAFF PHOTO)
Representatives for the proposed Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus listen during a public hearing at Valley View High School in Archbald, Pa., on Monday, July 13, 2026. (ISAAC DIAZ/STAFF PHOTO)
Attendees applaud and hold up signs opposing the proposed Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus during a public hearing at Valley View High School in Archbald, Pa., on Monday, July 13, 2026. (ISAAC DIAZ/STAFF PHOTO)
Attorney Justin Richards addresses Archbald borough officials during a public hearing on the proposed Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus at Valley View High School in Archbald, Pa., on Monday, July 13, 2026. (ISAAC DIAZ/STAFF PHOTO)
Acoustical consultant John Michael Spencer, right, addresses Archbald borough officials during a public hearing on the proposed Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus at Valley View High School in Archbald, Pa., on Monday, July 13, 2026. (ISAAC DIAZ/STAFF PHOTO)
A public hearing on the proposed Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus at Valley View High School in Archbald, Pa., on Monday, July 13, 2026. (ISAAC DIAZ/STAFF PHOTO)
Attorney Edmund Campbell, left, looks at his phone as Stop Archbald Data Centers Co-founder Justin Healey speaks during a public hearing on the proposed Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus at Valley View High School in Archbald, Pa., on Monday, July 13, 2026. (ISAAC DIAZ/STAFF PHOTO)
Attorney Edmund Campbell questions acoustical consultant John Michael Spencer during cross-examination at a public hearing on the proposed Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus at Valley View High School in Archbald, Pa., on Monday, July 13, 2026. (ISAAC DIAZ/STAFF PHOTO)
Attorney Megan S. Haines, representing the proposed Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus, listens to cross-examination during a public hearing at Valley View High School in Archbald, Pa., on Monday, July 13, 2026. (ISAAC DIAZ/STAFF PHOTO)
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A public hearing on the proposed Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus at Valley View High School in Archbald, Pa., on Monday, July 13, 2026. (ISAAC DIAZ/STAFF PHOTO)