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Dozens of residents press Durham commissioners for a carve'free data center moratorium
Summary
Multiple public commenters—residents and environmental groups—urged the Board of Commissioners to pass a moratorium without exemptions, citing water use, PFAS, noise and climate impacts and urging strong public hearings and regulatory development.
Residents and advocacy groups filled the county meeting's public comment period to urge a strong, loophole'free moratorium on new data centers. Speakers from Community Land and Power, Clean Water for North Carolina, Sunrise Movement, Southerners on New Ground and other coalitions described cumulative harms and asked the county to prioritize community health and water security.
"We ask that you pass a moratorium without loopholes," Leslie St. Dre told the board, urging the commissioners to "take a big pause and study the impacts." Other speakers cited concerns ranging from PFAS contamination in closed loop cooling to noise, heat'island effects and the prospect of higher utility bills linked to new hyperscale facilities. Rachel Meyer, a health advocate, said the county should study four health issues tied to data centers: PFAS in water, air pollution from backup generation, chronic noise impacts and heat islands.
Industry and economic development voices also spoke. Scott Levitan of the Research Triangle Foundation asked that regulation preserve a pathway for enterprise'scale centers needed by firms in RTP while protecting ratepayers and infrastructure capacity. That tension between economic development interests and environmental and public health concerns framed much of the board'level discussion that followed the public comments.
