Nesquehoning residents asked questions, voiced concerns, and even got a little upset during a series of meetings over a proposed data center project within the borough limits.

Bitfarms Ltd., a Canadian-based company, held four public meetings Monday and Tuesday to educate local residents on their intention on building a data center complex in the industrial park area of Nesquehoning. The site of the proposed development is off Industrial Road, starting across the street from Panther Creek Power Plant and traversing the northern side of Industrial, to behind the currently established companies like Sharps Compliance. Approximately 90 acre of land would be developed.

The data center is expected to bring around 300 additional jobs to the area. The types of jobs will range from maintenance and laborer positions, to trades people to high tech positions. These will be high paying jobs, with wage and benefit packages totaling nearly $140,000.

Representatives from Bitfarms provided residents with an overview of the project, outlining how it would be built, a timeline for the phased project, and how the community will be involved in the process.

Lois Kuba, who lives near where the data center is proposed, said that after hearing the plans, she looks forward to working with Bitfarms. Kuba also serves as a borough council member.

In addition, Liam Wilson, chief operations officer for the company, said that Bitfarms plans to have a community presence, noting that they have met with Panther Valley School District officials and have pledged approximately $1 million toward helping improve the school system. One project they highlighted is updating the playground at the current elementary school and how it will help the children.

Wilson and his colleagues feel that building a strong school district will not only help in retention of local residents, but also attract the type of talent that needed to maintain a strong community.

In addition, with school budget concerns, Panther Valley Elementary School teachers currently spend their own money for classroom supplies and activities for the students. To help with this, Bitfarms is establishing a fund for teachers to use to offset their personal classroom costs.

Following the presentation, local residents voiced concerns ranging from additional truck traffic on Route 54 to chemical waste management.

Bitfarms representatives have stated that they are working closely with PennDOT concerning traffic impact, PPL concerning electrical power supply, and Nesquehoning concerning public service impact.

Water supply to the data center was also a topic of concern, and Bitfarms said that based on the cooling system it plans on installing, water usage would be on an average of 3,000 gallons of water per day, which is significantly lower than if they would use an evaporation system. This usage equates to approximately 10 households’ water consumption daily.

Residents also asked if water could be used from abandoned coal mines; however, representatives said that they couldn’t purify that water enough to be able to use it.

One resident asked about water and sewer issues associated with a Hazleton area project that just recently got shut down, and how Bitfarms would be able to overcome such obstacles, with one being powering the buildings.

Representatives stressed that they heard community concerns and that is why they are investing in the closed loop system to cut down on water consumption; are paying for the 69 kilovolt transmission line PPL Electric is constructing and their pledge to reforest to make up for earth disturbance with the project.

Amy Miller contributed to this report.