Frederick County residents who attended a public meeting voiced ongoing concerns about the environmental and community impacts of backup diesel generators proposed for Aligned Data Centers. The meeting, hosted by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) at Carroll Manor Elementary School, focused on a draft construction permit for Aligned, which seeks approval to build over 170 emergency generators for its planned data center projects in the county.
Aligned is one of the companies planning to build data centers on the site of the former Alcoa Eastalco aluminum smelting plant in Adamstown, as part of the Quantum Loophole campus development.
Aligned submitted an application to MDE for a construction permit to install 168 three-megawatt generators and four one-megawatt generators, totaling a combined capacity of 508 megawatts. If approved, the draft permit would allow each of Aligned’s four planned data center buildings in Frederick County to be equipped with 42 three-megawatt generators and one one-megawatt generator.
Although Michael Powell, an attorney representing Aligned, was present at the meeting, he did not provide any comments. When contacted for further details, Aligned spokesperson Joanna Soucy said the company had no additional comments at this time.
Shannon Heafey, the public participation coordinator for MDE’s Air Quality Permits Program, stated that all questions and comments raised during the meeting will be addressed in a response document after the public comment period concludes on December 30.
Residents expressed concerns not only about the generators’ potential environmental impact but also about the power and water consumption associated with the large-scale data center operations in the area.
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