Prince William supervisors, residents press for enforceable data-center noise rules as testing continues

Residents near large data centers urged the Prince William County Board of Supervisors on June 10 to move faster on a revised noise ordinance after years of complaints about low-frequency, 24/7 industrial noise.

The most immediate focus of public comment and the board’s technical briefing was noise attributed to clustered data centers near the Great Oak neighborhood. Residents and members of the county’s Data Center Ordinance Advisory Group (DCOAG) said tests and health research show persistent low-frequency sound that “shakes our walls, rattles our windows, causes our pets to go off their food, or frightens our children,” as DCOAG member Catherine Kulick, Vice Chair of the HOA Roundtable, put it.

County staff described a months-long technical effort that has included multiple consultants, field testing and follow-up analysis. Wade Hu, deputy county executive for mobility, economic growth and resiliency, told the board that Prince William retained JMT to draft ordinance language, later retained acoustics expert David Nelson for detailed measurement and analysis, and added enforcement-consulting input from Rutgers University specialist Eric Zwerling. Staff said JMT and Nelson recommended measuring low-frequency “octave bands” — a more technical approach than the county’s current A-weighted…