West Finley Residents Seek County Help

A group of residents from West Finley Township approached Washington County Commissioner at their meeting on Thursday to ask their help in fighting the development of a data center near their homes. Henrietta O’Brien led the group. She said Florida land developer Next Generation Land Company has met with township supervisors. The company is interested in land off of Nuthatch Lane. She said the plans call for the construction of a data center that would be powered by a power plant using locally sourced natural gas. Residents are upset because of the widely reported emissions dangers from a power plant, but they are concerned about low frequency vibrations and hum. O’Brien says that those pollutions would negatively affect wildlife that is critical to the agricultural industry prevalent in the area. Jeff Hemmis raises bees. He said an electronics tower built near his home has wiped out his bee population and he still cannot revive them. Glenn O’Brien called the proposed construction terrible for the area water. He said that everyone is on a well. Sometimes they run dry in the summer. His research proved that data centers and power plants consume huge amounts of water. His concern is the construction was allowed, it would wipe out the water supply in the area.