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Residents, Sierra Club and environmental groups urge Sayreville to remove data centers from Hercules redevelopment plan
Summary
Multiple residents and environmental groups urged the borough to remove data centers as a permitted use in the Hercules redevelopment plan, citing concerns about large water demand, diesel generator emissions, noise and limited local job benefits; speakers offered drafting assistance for local safeguards or bans.
At the Borough of Sayreville’s April 27 meeting, residents and environmental advocates urged the council to remove data centers as a permitted use from the Hercules redevelopment plan and adopt local safeguards if the use remains.
Speakers included a local resident who reported a realty brochure promoting up to 4.6 million gallons per day for the site, Brooke Helmick (director of policy, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance) and Taylor McFarland (conservation program manager, Sierra Club New Jersey). They described public‑health and infrastructure risks: heavy water demand, air pollution from diesel backup generators, continuous cooling‑fan noise, heat‑island effects and limited local employment per acre compared with other industrial or mixed uses.
Helmick told the council that many data centers use diesel generators for backup power, which can dramatically increase local nitrogen oxides and particulate emissions during outages. McFarland cited examples from Virginia and other New Jersey towns that have restricted or regulated data centers and said municipalities are introducing ordinances to protect water supplies, limit noise and require impact studies. "Removing data centers from the Hercules redevelopment plan is the first step for Sayreville to truly protect this town's environment and its residents' wallets," she said.
Why it matters: Speakers cautioned that large data centers can stress municipal water supplies, increase electricity demand and produce continuous noise that affects nearby homes. They also argued data centers often deliver comparatively few local permanent jobs for the land they occupy.
What happens next: Councilmembers heard the testimony; no council vote was taken to amend zoning or the redevelopment plan. Members were urged to consider a borough ordinance or a restricted industrial zoning category and to require impact assessments (acoustic, water, air quality) for any future applications.
Quote: "A medium-scale data center would use 110 million gallons of water every single year," Brooke Helmick said, urging thorough review and local safeguards.
Ending: Advocates offered to assist the borough with ordinance language and technical studies; Council took the public comment and did not adopt any immediate land‑use changes.
