Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Lowell council approves addition of diesel storage for Markley data center after contentious public hearing
Summary
After a lengthy public hearing, the City Council approved a permit amendment to allow four additional 6,000‑gallon above‑ground diesel tanks (24,000 gallons) at the Markley data center site; neighbors and climate advocates objected, while university and union speakers supported the expansion and jobs.
The Lowell City Council approved a council motion to amend the Markley Group’s fuel storage permit on Tuesday after an extended public hearing that drew both neighborhood opposition and institutional supporters.
The amendment would authorize four additional above‑ground diesel tanks of 6,000 gallons each (24,000 gallons total) at Markley’s data center site (the former Prince Macaroni site on Prince/Market area), increasing the site’s existing permitted diesel storage. Attorney William Martin, representing the Markley Group, told the council the fuel is for emergency backup generators and said the additional tanks would allow the facility to operate on backup power for about 24 hours in a prolonged outage.
Why it matters: Markley hosts critical data operations used by local institutions, including letters of support from UMass Lowell and Lowell General Hospital cited at the meeting, and the company employs more than 100 people on site with dozens of…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
