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Commissioners request county-wide health and emergency assessments as multiple data-center proposals arise
Summary
A commissioner urged the solicitor to prepare an RFQ for independent health and environmental impact analyses of proposed data centers and associated power infrastructure; commissioners also asked emergency management to complete a threat and emergency response assessment focused on battery storage, power plants and cumulative impacts.
A commissioner used recent United Nations reporting on data-center energy and water consumption to press for county-level studies assessing cumulative public-health, environmental and emergency-response risks from multiple proposed data centers, power plants and battery storage facilities in Lackawanna County.
The commissioner asked the county solicitor to prepare a request for qualifications (RFQ) for professional services to conduct a comprehensive health and environmental impact assessment—specifying expertise in public health, epidemiology, air quality, noise, water resources and community impacts—and recommended that the RFQ consider cumulative impacts across all pending proposals. The board also directed the county Department of Emergency Management to carry out an independent threat and emergency response assessment to evaluate preparedness for incidents such as battery storage fires or hazardous-material releases.
The commissioner cited UN data (presented during the meeting) and referenced studies that show data centers can represent national-scale energy consumption, then urged the county to gather independent science to inform future decisions. The solicitor and other staff were asked to draft an RFQ and scope for the health assessment; commissioners discussed the need for both studies and for coordination with state and federal regulators as relevant.
Next steps: solicitor to draft RFQ and emergency management to begin an independent threat assessment; commissioners said both studies should proceed without delaying one another.
