Mike Leaper presents 6,601-signature petition and warns of environmental, water and health risks from rumored Granville Township data center

Mike Leaper, a resident who addressed the Mifflin County commissioners during the meeting’s public-comment period, presented what he said was a verified, hand-counted petition of 6,601 signatures opposing a rumored data-center development in Granville Township and listed a wide range of environmental and community concerns.

"There are many more questions than answers," Leaper told the commission, citing potential impacts on private wells, municipal water, traffic, noise and lighting. He raised specific worries about groundwater and the local aquifer, saying that most nearby homes rely on private wells while only the Colonial Hills development is served by the municipal system. He urged caution about any verbal promises of tax revenue and told the board that any revenue-sharing commitments should be in a legally binding written agreement. Leaper closed his remarks by urging officials to oppose the project and by noting the petitions and supporting materials he left with the clerk.

Why it matters: Petition size and unresolved technical questions have increased local pressure on elected officials and planning authorities. Residents in the potential project area rely largely on private wells, and speakers at the meeting argued that the scale and cooling requirements of a major data center could create new strains on water and wastewater systems.

A separate public commenter who identified himself as an expert in wastewater treatment elaborated on technical risks. He told the commissioners that cooling towers — commonly used for large-scale data-center cooling — discharge chemically treated water that can disrupt the biological process at wastewater-treatment plants. "That cooling water gets drained ... it kills everything that from here to Mifflin," the commenter said, warning of downstream impacts on the Juniata River. The commenter recommended using closed refrigeration/heat-pump systems instead and urged the county to adopt an ordinance forbidding future conversion to open cooling towers.

The commission did not vote on any regulation at the meeting. In response to the concerns, the chair said the county’s planning commission has issued a guidance document asking many of the same questions and noted that Granville Township is circulating a draft ordinance addressing some of the issues raised; members encouraged residents to comment on the township draft.

Direct quotes from speakers reflect public anxiety and uncertainty. Leaper invoked a familiar line to emphasize the need for concrete commitments: "Show me the money," he said, urging legally binding agreements rather than verbal assurances. The wastewater expert asked the board to "pass an ordinance that says that they may not" convert to cooling towers, asserting that relying on heat pumps instead would avoid the wastewater chemistry problem he described.

What the record shows: At this meeting the board received public comment and the petition; it did not adopt any new policy or ordinance. Planning and regulatory follow-up was described as the appropriate next step — including review by the planning commission and comment opportunities on Granville Township’s draft ordinance.

What remains unresolved: The identity of any developer proposing the data center, the project's technical specifications (including exact cooling technology), and any proposed financial agreements or tax-relief requests were not presented in the meeting record and therefore are not confirmed. The petition total is reported as presented by Leaper; the county did not validate the number during the meeting.