Mele Brothers Realty bought 750 acres of land on Maury Road and Route 903 in Penn Forest Township with the intention to build a data center. This must not be approved, or the impacts to the local community and environment will be devastating.

Data centers cause noise pollution that could impact outdoor recreation and community residents. They also consume large quantities of water, and it is unclear what the impacts to residents will be. Penn Forest Streams and Bear Creek Lakes developments would be in close proximity to the data center. Electricity bills will potentially increase due to data center usage. One data center uses as much electricity as a small town, according to the University of Michigan. Once built, data centers only employ about a dozen people, but the noise, higher bills, water consumption, and light and air pollution will drive away both tourists and residents and harm the local environment.

We must ensure this data center is never built and protect our community. The only ones with anything to gain are Mele Brothers Realty and the politicians such as Gov. Shapiro who have sold out Pennsylvania for short-term profit.

If the business owners and residents who call Jim Thorpe and Penn Forest Township home want this community to thrive, we need to ensure this proposed data center is never built. We must also oppose any future proposed data centers within Carbon County.

Bethany Bretzik

Penn Forest Township