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South Strabane holds public hearing on draft fossil-fuel and power-generation ordinance for data-centers; adoption tabled
Summary
The board heard a public hearing on a draft ordinance that would permit on-site fossil-fuel electric generating facilities as conditional uses in industrial zones, and accepted several public comment letters; the board directed revisions and tabled adoption until August for further edits.
The board opened a public hearing on a proposed fossil-fuel and power-generation ordinance intended to govern on-site power plants associated with data centers. Staff summarized the draft: it would treat fossil-fuel electric generating facilities as conditional uses in specified industrial districts, require conditional-use applications, setbacks, decommissioning plans and environmental submissions, and aim to limit adverse effects on public health and safety.
Members of the public raised technical and policy concerns. Rebecca McTaggart of Locust Avenue urged stronger environmental-sampling controls, recommending the township select testing firms from a roster of qualified labs (paid by applicants), require laboratories accredited under the Pennsylvania National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program, maintain chain-of-custody and provide split samples for parallel analysis, and require simultaneous reporting to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection rather than leaving submission to applicant discretion. Cynthia Rossi submitted written comments asking removal of surface fossil-fuel plants from I-1 districts, larger setbacks and additional protections; she also raised small nuclear reactors (SNRs) as an alternative. The board voted to place McTaggart'Rossi materials and other exhibits into the record, close the hearing, and have staff revise the ordinance for advertisement at the August meeting.
