Though their 399-day-long mission is now accomplished, The Newark Residents Against the Power Plant assert that there is still work to be done.
The NRAPP gathered before Newark City Council’s Monday night meeting to release their first official statement on the abandoned data center plan. The University of Delaware announced last week that it would not extend its lease or support for The Data Centers LLC’s proposed $1 billion facility that would have brought a data center and a 279 megawatt cogeneration power plant to UD’s STAR campus.
A crowd gathered in the entrance to city hall to hear comments from community leaders. Representatives from the Delaware Audubon Society, Sierra Club and Blue Hens for Clean Air were among those who spoke to those gathered in the foyer.
Jen Wallace, chair of the NRAPP, thanked the university for its decision to terminate the plans for the proposed facility, but warned that the NRAPP would continue to push their concerns.
“While the university’s decision on The Data Centers LLC’s project means that we no longer have the threat of ‘Wolf I’ at our doorstep, there are still many issues that need to be addressed to prevent similar concerns from arising in the future.”
Wallace explained these loose ends include the zoning verification for the site as well as noise ordinances, accessory use, and a lack of accountability of city staff to City Council and the public.
“There’s still the opportunity for projects that aren’t a good fit for the community to come through without a lot of public oversight.”
State Rep. John Kowalko (D-Newark South) also weighed in about the project and what he believes was a lack of transparency between the University of Delaware, the State of Delaware and the public during the process. He believes if this issue does not change, contention will continue with other projects like this one.
“The thank you’s were in order, certainly deserved, certainly well earned by the University of Delaware, but right now we’re sitting in a similar situation where we don’t have access to a willing dialogue with the community, with stakeholders, with everyone.”
Kowalko, who remained critical of the proposed facility, said he would not seek to prevent it from being built elsewhere in the state, but believes the power plant accompanying the data center should not be built anywhere in the state.
Kowalko said if a compromise is to be made regarding the project, it cannot be made behind closed doors.
“If you’re going to do it again behind closed doors, regardless of where you’re putting it, you’re starting off on some really shaky ground and you’re going to end up in the same place you ended up here," said Kowalko. "“So if there is a compromise to be made or a dialogue to be had, it has to be had. It can no longer be something coming down from this Administration behind closed doors with a willingness from DEDO and a willingness from DNREC and a willingness from local governments to exclude their constituents.”
While supporters of the project, including Gov. Jack Markell (D-Delaware), often said that the data center would create much-needed jobs, Kowalko said he did not believe it would have been as many as people think.
“I’ve analyzed the numbers they presented, I investigated other data centers, even other power plants and after the original construction is done, those numbers are so flawed, so faulty, so exaggerated, that I would scoff at them except it’s too serious.”