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Residents urge Hermantown council to pause data-center approvals, citing noise, water use and secrecy concerns
Summary
During public comment at the April 20 Hermantown council meeting, multiple residents urged a moratorium on hyperscale data centers or demanded stricter review, raising claims about low-frequency noise, potential water usage and the city's transparency (NDAs and ordinance changes); speakers cited The Dalles, Oregon, as a cautionary example.
Dozens of residents used the city's public-comment period to press the Hermantown City Council on a proposed hyperscale data center in the city's southwest corner, asking for a pause while the council studies potential noise, environmental, water-resource and transparency issues.
Tom Bates told the council "on a quiet night, you'll hear it out to 5 miles," arguing that cumulative chillers, fans and transformer cooling fans from a multi-building hyperscale center would generate low-frequency noise and infrasound that trees could not block. He said such noise can disrupt sleep and cited research he said documents health effects.
Susan Anderson and others stressed environmental monitoring. Anderson cited recent enforcement actions elsewhere in Minnesota and asked whether the Hermantown…
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