The developers behind a proposal to build a hyperscale AI data center at the former site of the Cheswick Generating Station in Springdale used experts to respond to concerns and questions from neighbors.

Experts focused on concerns ranging from noise to air quality and light pollution were all present at a special planning board meeting in Springdale on Wednesday night. Some of the concerns focused on air quality at the site.

"It's just a very big concern and worry for me, for the health and the safety of the people and the residents around me and my neighbors and myself," said one neighbor in public comment.

To respond to that, developers brought in a chemical engineer.

"I've reviewed preliminarily the units that will be used in this design, and they will be designed to meet all federal resource performance standards and to comply with all the applicable air quality standards," the chemical engineer said.

Other neighbors were concerned about noise that could be created by the facility, which developers say would create 80 to 100 jobs.

"The hum is going to be ridiculous, so please tell me what you will do about that," asked one neighbor.

She held up her phone and played an audio file she said was a recording of a home air conditioning unit near her home, saying it was 70 decibels. Experts brought in by the developer said noise created by the data center would be within local standards. 

"What we are projecting here, in your worst case, daily operation, is half of the sound that you are putting on that phone," said Brian Regli, a consultant for the project. 

There's also a concern about water usage. Developers say the data center proposed would use less water than other data centers because it would recycle water.

The question of electricity is more complicated. Some neighbors fear that the electricity issues they already face, where they say power suddenly goes off for no apparent reason, could get worse. Others are worried about costs. 

"People who have lived near data centers have claimed that their electric costs have gone up 30 to sometimes even 70%," one neighbor at the meeting said. 

It's a topic KDKA asked Regli about.

"I believe that we need to build more power in Pennsylvania, and I believe that there are companies and organizations that are out there that are willing to do that. But they're going to do that when they see customers like us show up and ask for that to happen," Regli said. 

He told the crowd and the planning board that the data center would be good for their community and would add to their tax base.

"This development will be done in a way that's appropriate for the community. It will be done in a way where the sound is mitigated, where the water is cared for, where the community benefits arise as a result of the investment," Regli said. 

The planning board opted to delay a vote on making a recommendation to their borough council relating to the project to Oct. 8, giving the board more time to review information unveiled in a presentation about the project at Wednesday's meeting. 

Regli said it is all just a part of the process. A final vote on the project is a long way off.