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Residents cite health, noise and wastewater concerns over proposed Clarksville data centers
Summary
Several speakers at Clarksville’s hearing raised environmental and health worries — from wastewater capacity and light/noise pollution to internet‑found studies the commenters say link power lines and industrial facilities to adverse outcomes — and asked for enforceable local safeguards.
Multiple public‑comment speakers told the council they were worried about environmental and public‑health effects from the proposed data‑center development.
Judy Penny, who said she is “opposed to this bond,” referenced studies she found online and asked who the ultimate developer and end user would be, saying she had seen conflicting and confidential information about ownership. Ronnie Terry voiced concerns about electricity demand and wastewater generation, saying the data center could consume electricity equivalent to "500 to 700,000 regular households" and that he feared brownouts and unaddressed impacts to neighboring hospital and nursing‑home operations.
Other commenters asked for noise limits, buffer enforcement and transparent environmental protections. Kelly Miller and others specifically referenced a previously promised 100‑foot tree buffer along Palmer Road and asked the council to ensure buffer and mitigation commitments were enforceable in final agreements.
Council and developer representatives responded with descriptions of buffer requirements in zoning and offered to follow up on specific measurements and documents. The hearing record contains assertions on both sides but does not include technical environmental analyses or permitting records; council members indicated those details and contracts would be worked out in later documents.
