Data center developer wants majority of Archbald council to recuse themselves from deciding its fate; air quality in focus again

A developer who plans to build a massive data center campus in Archbald believes six of the seven members of council are biased.

Cornell Realty Manager LLC does not want them deciding if the Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus follows the borough’s zoning laws.

“At the simplest level it's because of a conflict of some sort, a member of council should be recused or removed,” the developer's attorney Edmund Campbell said, invoking the right to due process.

Someone yelled out from the audience to Campbell, “You should be removed!”

Campbell made the motions for the council members to recuse themselves at the beginning of the eighth conditional use hearing for the Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus.

Then attorney Megan Haines, the second of three lawyers for the developer, called an expert air quality witness to testify over three hours on whether or not the project could get state air quality permits.

The expert — Thomas Muscenti — also attempted to debunk an independent scientist's claim that pollution from the planned 588 diesel-powered backup generators at the campus could cause between $3 million and $124 million in health damages annually.

Cornell seeks zoning approval to build the Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus on more than 500 acres off Business Route 6 and Route 247, known as Wildcat Road, in the borough.

Entitled to ‘due process’

Before the campus can be built, the developer needs zoning approval and has to go through the borough's conditional use process to prove that their project follows Archbald's zoning regulations.

Under Archbald’s Borough Code, council decides the outcome of the conditional use hearing process.

The developer, through Campbell’s motions, wants council members Madonna Munley, Erin Owen, Larry Marchetti, President Lou Rapoch, Lisa Osborne and Larry West to recuse themselves from the hearing process.

The only council member that was not included in that motion is Vice President Joseph Altier.

Owen is one of the six targeted members. She is concerned that the industry could change Archbald. Owen is also the only original member still on council who voted against changing zoning for data centers in November.

She asked Campbell to explain their request for recusal.

“What due process requires is not just the absence of bias or impartiality but is an absence of the appearance of bias or impartiality,” Attorney Lucas Liben, a third attorney for the developer, answered.

He said those six council members are biased and impartial.

“This is the constitution of our commonwealth. This is the constitution of our nation, which entitles the applicant to due process,” Liben said.

Borough Solicitor Jay O’Connor received the motions around three hours before the hearing Tuesday.

He said he did not have time to review them, but disagreed that the developer’s due process rights are being violated. He pointed to the eight conditional use hearings that the developer has been given since January. A ninth is scheduled for Sept. 9.

At the majority of the hearings, Cornell has asked experts to testify on the scope of the project, water usage and economic impact, traffic, noise and now air quality. They’ve also been able to cross-examine witnesses called by the opposition and the borough.

Objectors and borough council have said they found flaws in most of the developer’s studies, even prompting Cornell to bring in a second traffic expert that did not provide a study to borough council.

If Campbell’s motions have teeth, the board could — under the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code — appoint a hearing officer. The code does not address if the hearings would have to restart.

Kat Bolus

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WVIA News

Two 'vastly different' air quality analysis

Cornell hired air quality and permitting expert Muscenti from Trinity Consultants for $15,000 to explain that by receiving air quality permits from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that the community would be protected from pollution from the diesel backup generators.

"My report concludes that the permitting process will ensure protection of human health from the proposed project,” he said near the end of the hearing.

Muscenti's study was also in part a rebuttal to Dr. Michael Cork’s research that looked at the health impacts of the generators.

The Stop Archbald Data Centers group hired Cork — a post-doctoral research fellow at Harvard University and CEO of Empower Analytics Group — at $10,000 for the research. Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan, who was at Tuesday’s meeting, also wants to hire Cork to do a health analysis of the industry for the entire county.

Cork testified before council in July. Then, he told Haines that he does not take an official stand on the projects.

“I focus on presenting the science," Cork said.

Muscenti did not do an independent analysis of any possible pollution for the around-50-page study he presented to council.

"It in part was a rebuttal. The other part of it was to demonstrate the regulatory requirements of the proposed project and how that would be authorized by PA DEP," he said, "And why it would be compliant with those regulations, and how that process is designed to be protective of human health.”

Marchetti questioned what he called "vastly different reports" submitted by the two experts.

"I want to find out why there's a difference,” he said.

Again, Muscenti mentioned permitting.

"So what I did in my report was evaluate the scenarios presented in Dr. Cork’s report within the permitting framework for PA DEP," he replied.

In July, Haines questioned Cork on the DEP’s permitting process. Cork told her that his report does not look at the permitting required for the project.

"Something that's come up already a couple of times is the difference between a regulatory question versus a health question. My expertise is on understanding the health impacts,” Cork said.

Permits require certain generators

Muscenti said Cornell will have to use tier 4 generators, or generators that meet tier 4 requirements, in order to get the permits.

Tiers refer to emissions controls on engines; four is the strictest standard.

He argued that Cork analized tier 2 generators with additional emission controls. Cork’s study looked at a variety of scenarios for the generators and still found the pollution could cause health problems.

Attorney Justin Richards was hired by the community to represent them in the proceedings. He asked if the developer has committed to using tier 4 compliant generators.

"They've committed to obtaining the DEP permits," Muscenti said.

Campbell later said that Cornell will use tier 4 or tier 4-compliant generators.

“So if my truck passes the state emissions inspection … that's not the same as saying there's no health impact if I sit there breathing the exhaust fumes all day, right?” Richards asked.

“Correct,” Muscenti replied.

Data centers operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week and rely on backup generators that across the industry use various forms of energy. Wildcat’s 588 diesel-powered backup generators will need to be routinely tested in groups and could all fire up at once in case of an emergency.

Cork's methodology questioned

One of Muscenti's major disagreements with the Cork report was the doctor’s use of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s CO-Benefits Risk Assessment program. It’s called COBRA.

He argued that COBRA is meant to show how pollution changes when clean energy policies and programs are used. He said it’s not meant to measure health outcomes.

Muscenti pulled up the online program on a large projector screen above the Valley View High School auditorium stage.

But instead of entering in the information for diesel generators, he created a scenario for a housing development on the Wildcat land where the homes use natural gas.

"Any increase in emissions would result in an increase in health impacts or health effects on the bottom line here," Muscenti said.

Later when asked by Marchetti, Muscenti would not demonstrate how the COBRA program would react to the 588-diesel fuel generators.

"So the demonstration was just to show what would happen, you know, how the COBRA model works," he said. "Dr. Cork used that model with its limitations and with several assumptions that couldn't be permitted to come up with values.”

Altier also asked Muscenti to put the data center campus into the COBRA program. Muscenti said that information was already in Cork’s report.

"The analysis that I did wasn't meant to be a direct comparison. It was meant to show that any activity that could be approved would generate emissions and would have an output in that COBRA file," Muscenti said.

Resident Tammy Misewicz-Healey later pointed out that Cork was using COBRA as a way to show that even with emission controls on generators that pollution could still impact the health of residents.

She also pointed out that the amount of pollutants allowed in the air by the EPA under the federal Clear Air Act changes routinely. And that for over a decade Lackawanna County did not meet air quality standards for ozone gas, a pollutant regulated by the EPA.

Despite that, industry was still allowed to continue in the county, she said.

"Do you feel confident in your report that there is no public health risk to this community, Archbald, Pennsylvania? … do you think your report proves there is no public health burden with the air missions?” she said.

Misewicz-Healey asked if Muscenti believes his report proves that.

"My report concludes that the permitting process will ensure protection of human health from the proposed project,” he said.