Prince George's County task force reviews community feedback on data centers, emphasizes advisory role on Landover Mall proposal

Prince George's County Qualified Data Center Task Force Co-Chair Edward Burrows opened the September meeting by telling attendees the task force will study data centers' economic, environmental and social impacts and make recommendations to the county government, but stressed the body has no permitting authority over projects such as the proposed Landover Mall data center. "This task force is not voting on the proposed data center at Landover Mall," Burrows said. "This Task Force does not have the authority to determine whether or not a data center goes anywhere."

The task force spent the meeting reviewing synthesized feedback from three community meetings held in July and one-on-one comments collected by the consulting team. Anthony Jones, the co-chair, said the group's recommendations will be advisory only: "Our recommendations are intended to be aligned with best practices from other jurisdictions that will best protect and promote the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of Prince George's County."

Nut graf: The presentation summarized public concern and suggested mitigation strategies that the task force said will inform a formal set of recommendations to…