MASSENA — A resounding series of “nos” were heard from speakers who packed the Massena Town Hall last week for a 90-minute public comment session to discuss adding data centers as a permitted use in the town’s industrial zones.

Speakers during the town board’s monthly meeting, most of whom did not identify themselves, cited several reasons to keep data centers from operating in those zones, including the health environmental impacts.

“There’s a lot of concerns, one primarily being the water intake that data centers need to cool. Where does that water go because we already have tremendous environmental impacts downstream in Akwesasne. So, as it is right now, we see the data center as a threat to our health,” one speaker said. “I’m just looking at the liability and who’s responsible for any detrimental impact to the health of the community in Akwesasne.”

Another speaker said the area has already suffered from the impact of manufacturing plants.

“We already have the remnants and leftovers of the plants that existed here to the cancer rates in this area to what’s still happening today. So, my concern has a lot to do with health. They just dredged this river and that opened up the airways again for all these contaminants, PCBs, to float in the air, to bring it down downstream again,” she said.

Jim Ralston said he worked at North Country Data Center for one year and, “my opinion is that these centers are an incredible waste of electricity.”

“When I was there that first year, we were using 30 million watts in that data center, and that’s enough energy to operate all the homes in Massena. That was one pot line. They had the capacity for six pot lines,” he said. “As more places come online to produce that power, they’re more costly per megawatt-hour to produce that energy, which is why we’re seeing jumps in our energy bill, especially during the winter. It costs more money to make that power. Somebody’s paying for it and I’m not convinced it’s only the data mining companies.”

One audience member recalled that the town had a moratorium on the establishment of new data centers for several years.

“Many of the things that I had addressed at that time on my opposition of these data centers still have not been addressed with the laws or regulations that the town came out with,” he said. “When you talk about the rivers, we’re just being able to eat fish out of the St. Lawrence River again. Data centers are well-known for CO2 emissions, which cause global warming, which causes problems with the climate in the air, but also cause problems with the water.”

He said he had also asked for the economic impact of the data centers on the community, such as the amount of taxes and the number of employees, but received no answer at the time.

“I’m trying not to say this to insult anybody at Massena, but one of the reasons why they picked many of these areas more than the majority… is they look for a place that has a high poverty level and a low income level because these communities are known not to look for the future, which I feel you’re not looking at by bringing in data centers,” he said. “This is a detriment to our community. It’s a detriment to the health of everybody that’s here. Right now you’re asking for a major polluter to come in.”

McKay Burley suggested, rather than adopt changes to the local law, the town board reinstate the moratorium “allowing for more time for community awareness and consent around data centers.”

“Data centers are highly unregulated on a federal level, and use of valuable natural resources like fresh water, there’s been a national trend and increased costs of electricity and demand on municipal infrastructure where data centers are developed,” he said. “The temporary construction jobs and non-union data center jobs are not worth the risk of our natural resources and the health of future generations.”

Some speakers were also upset that the town had not consulted with the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe when drafting the change to the local law because of the proximity of some industrial zones to Akwesasne, including the former GM Powertrain site.

Among them was Grand Chief Leonard Lazore from the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, who was accompanied by some of his district chiefs.

“I come here just to listen. But I also request a meeting with you, between our councils. We, too, are focused on economic development. We, too, know it’s important to step carefully, and we also know it’s really important to have that communication. Without that communication, it’s just going to cause fear. It’s just going to cause conflict. It’s going to cause so many issues that I don’t think either of us want,” he said.

Lazore said they wanted to meet with the town board to address and resolve their concerns.

“There’s a lot of concerns that we have, and I think we can resolve them if we work together,” he said. “But, I’m going to tell you now, I had to come here tonight because my people are scared. My people are saying, ‘Is it time to stay out of Massena?’ Our businesses are scared. Is it time to stay out of Massena? Our corporation is scared. Is it time to stay out of Massena? And, I said, ‘Well, wait, let’s talk first. Let’s go there and find out. Let’s have a meeting, and let’s set this up, and let’s share that information.'”

Deputy Massena Supervisor Samuel D. Carbone Jr. said they would take the information they gleaned from the public hearing and consider it when finalizing the change to the local law.