Published May 01. 2026 11:30AM<\/p>\n
There was a presentation at the April 15 board of commissioners meeting on the 2026-2027 South Whitehall Environmental Advisory Council Work Plan.<\/p>\n
Chris Strohler, township long-range planner presented the 2026-2027 work plan, noting the board now has a full complement of seven members for the first time.<\/p>\n
The plan builds on previous efforts and outlines priorities in five key areas: community outreach, open space preservation, ordinances and policies, waste management and active transportation.<\/p>\n
Key initiatives include expanding partnerships with community organizations, advancing the township\u2019s open space referendum through mapping and property prioritization and updating ordinances related to natural resource protection.<\/p>\n
The EAC also plans to continue working with waste hauler J.P. Mascaro on recycling education and to promote sustainable practices within the community.<\/p>\n
Additionally, the council will support implementation of the township\u2019s active transportation plan by encouraging better connections to open spaces and promoting alternative transportation options.<\/p>\n
The work plan will be made available on the township website.<\/p>\n
Township officials expressed appreciation for the EAC\u2019s efforts, recognizing its role in addressing upcoming environmental challenges and initiatives.<\/p>\n
During the courtesy of the floor segment of the meeting, the first three community members to speak were Julie Thomases, Dan Poresky, and Alice Lenthe.<\/p>\n
Thomases raised concerns about air pollution from the proposed Project Atlas data center, particularly fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) from diesel generators.<\/p>\n
She explained these particles can cause serious short- and long-term health effects, including respiratory illness, heart problems and premature death.<\/p>\n
Thomases noted current PM 2.5 levels in the Allentown area are already at the EPA\u2019s recommended limit and argued additional emissions could pose risks across the Lehigh Valley.<\/p>\n
She urged township officials to commission an independent health impact study to better understand the potential public health and economic consequences.<\/p>\n
Poresky focused on the potential heat impacts of the data center.<\/p>\n
Citing a study from the University of Cambridge, he said large-scale data centers can create \u201cheat islands,\u201d raising surrounding temperatures by several degrees and, in some cases, up to 16 degrees.<\/p>\n
Poresky expressed concern the project\u2019s air-cooled design could further increase heat output and energy use, potentially affecting nearby homes, schools and businesses within several miles.<\/p>\n
He also noted increased temperatures could lead to higher energy consumption and compound broader climate concerns.<\/p>\n
Lenthe addressed issues of public notification and access to information.<\/p>\n
She pointed to a recent Pennsylvania Bulletin notice regarding environmental remediation at the project site and questioned the timing of the public comment period, suggesting it may limit meaningful public input.<\/p>\n
Lenthe also said it is difficult for residents to find clear and accessible information about Project Atlas on the township\u2019s website.<\/p>\n
She encouraged officials to improve transparency by creating a more prominent and user-friendly way for the public to access all related documents and updates.<\/p>\n
These were the first three speakers and there were at least five more with similar concerns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published May 01. 2026 11:30AM There was a presentation at the April 15 board of commissioners meeting on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-181401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}