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Vineland residents press council to halt AI data center until independent study is shared
Summary
Multiple Vineland residents urged the council on Feb. 10 to pause construction of a privately proposed AI data center, saying promised independent environmental reports have not been produced and raising concerns about groundwater, electricity and jobs. They asked for a moratorium or ordinance until study results are public.
Several Vineland residents told the City Council on Feb. 10 they want the city to pause or block construction of a proposed AI data center until an independent environmental impact study is produced and shared publicly.
Residents cited conflicting statements by a project representative about water use and local benefits. Andrea Land, a longtime landowner on South Main Road, said the project’s public claims echoed past high-profile deceptions: “Hearing Charles talk, I couldn't help but be reminded of Elizabeth Holmes.” Land said the project’s representative had promised the study would be ready “within a couple days” of a Jan. 21 town hall and that the developer had guaranteed “150 to 200 jobs for local people and not a single drop of water or actually 20,000,000 gallons would be taken from our wells.”
Other speakers backed calls for more transparency and legal safeguards. Mary Ann Laieli thanked the city for an inclusive playground but asked whether the mayor’s office or council had received the independent study the project representative promised; the council said it had not and that staff would follow up. Alora Mallett, a lifelong Vineland resident, urged the council to consider an ordinance or moratorium, saying residents learned of the project largely through social media and raising concern that the city’s electric system could be strained.
Speakers repeatedly asked whether the project's site overlapped protected wellhead areas and whether the developer’s claims about environmental impacts and jobs could be verified. Andrea Land said she had read that the site sits over a “tier 2 wellhead protected area” and urged the council and land-use boards to “proceed with caution” and consider a moratorium until independent analysis is complete.
A city representative in the meeting said an environmental review is underway and named AKRF as the firm “getting this done” and said the study would be public “within the next few days,” but the council and residents said they had not received the report by the Feb. 10 meeting.
The council did not take any formal action on the data center during the meeting. The public commenters asked the city to require the developer to deliver promised materials and to consider local ordinances or moratoria that would halt construction pending review.
