Across Pennsylvania, rural communities are being asked to host some of the state’s largest industrial projects — and Carbon County is no exception.

With just over 65,000 residents, Carbon County is proud of its rural character and small-town communities.

Yet our small county is increasingly becoming a destination for very large industrial developments.

A proposed 450-acre data center complex is being discussed along rural State Route 903 in Penn Forest Township, with another data center proposal emerging in Nesquehoning near an existing cogeneration facility.

Two warehouses have already been constructed along Route 940 in Kidder Township, while a third warehouse project is now being challenged before the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board.

A 398-acre solar project has also received conditional approval.

Many residents are asking a simple question: how much development should one small county be expected to absorb?

Carbon County also carries the legacy of earlier industry.

Locations in Palmerton and Nesquehoning remain on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund cleanup list — proof that the impacts of industrial decisions can last for generations.

Carbon County residents have seen what happens when major industrial decisions are made without fully considering their long-term consequences.

When development decisions affect watersheds, traffic, water supplies, and electrical demand, the impacts extend well beyond township borders.

Perhaps it is time for us to think more regionally about where massive industrial projects should go.

Beth Hurley

Kidder Township