Kennilworth residents press council to halt Corweave data center as dozens cite health, noise and transparency concerns

Kennilworth Borough Council spent its June 17 meeting fielding more than three hours of public comment focused on Corweaveave's proposed hyperscale data center at the Nest 11 property, with most speakers urging the council to stop or pause the project pending independent environmental, public-health and grid-impact reviews.

Mayor Linda Carloage opened public comment by saying she has toured a Corweave facility and is "doing her due diligence," and she repeated the borough's pledge to hold the company accountable. "We're committed to ensuring Corweave is held accountable," she said, adding that the company told her acoustic treatments would make the operation comparable to "the sound of your refrigerator." Residents disputed that characterization.

The bulk of the public comment came from environmental advocates, neighboring-town residents and Kennilworth homeowners. Ben Jobeck, executive director of Climate Revolution Action Network, said Corweave's proposal raised immediate questions about grid capacity and long-term energy costs, and he pressed the borough for independent analysis rather than relying on company materials. "This is our utility bill increase and this is our headache," he said.

Others raised specific technical and health concerns. Speakers questioned whether the site's planned closed-loop cooling could create local heat-island effects and argued that any closed-loop system that uses glycol or other heat-transfer fluids should be evaluated for leak and disposal risks. One commenter cited reports of a confirmed Legionnaires case among workers at the Nest 11 construction site and said OSHA and public-health authorities had been notified.

Multiple residents also cited public-records (OPRA) documents that, they said, show subdivision filings and plans that could support two additional data centers and a large electrical substation on the property. "Why were these future plans not disclosed to neighboring officials?" one resident asked; council members replied that they were aware only of the recorded subdivision and that any future projects would need planning-board approvals.

Council members repeatedly told residents that planning-board approvals memorialize the applicant's technical commitments and that code enforcement, inspections and court remedies are available if the facility does not meet conditions set at approval. Councilman William Mororrow summarized that representations made during site-plan and variance hearings become enforceable conditions of approval and that the borough has enforcement authority, including notice-of-violation procedures and civil remedies.

Still, speakers rejected assurances as insufficient. Youth speakers and neighbors from Cranford, Union and Roselle Park warned of regional electricity impacts; a local high-school student cited a 250-megawatt estimate and said such demand could affect rates across the PJM grid. Many residents called for an immediate pause and an independent, third-party review before equipment is installed or operations begin.

The council took no new votes that evening on Corweave projects. The meeting did include routine business: the governing body approved the consent agenda (resolutions 26-146 through 26-159), including Resolution 26-159 to appoint a KPD dispatcher (start date June 20), and it introduced Ordinance 2026-13, a $2.976 million bond ordinance to fund capital improvements, which is scheduled for public hearing and adoption July 1.

Next steps: residents said they will continue canvassing, petitioning and pressing for additional transparency. Borough officials said they will rely on the planning board's record, code enforcement and state and federal agencies as appropriate, and they encouraged residents to submit OPRA requests for specific records. The council also agreed to consider venue and accessibility improvements for future meetings as overflow crowds pressed room capacity limits that evening.

At the meeting's close, many speakers vowed continued action and said they would press elected officials at the municipal and county levels for independent reviews and enforcement if technical or health assurances proved false.