Data Center Fears Raised In Bridgewater, Council Taking Issue 'Very Seriously'

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Bridgewater officials said they are taking data center concerns "very seriously" as residents raised fears about the future of the former Greymark Office site off Route 22.

The Township Council noted no specific plan has been filed for a data center at the Greymark property at 1200 Route 22. Council members said it is tied up in litigation.

Subscribe

The discussion came up during public comment at the July 9 Council meeting when Joseph Chiarell of Branchburg, who is with Somerset Indivisible and Food and Water Watch, urged the council to consider how a 400,000-square-foot AI data center at the 28-acre site will negatively affect the surrounding area.

Chiarell told the council the first concern was power demand. Charelle said the project was estimated to draw "60 megawatts of power" and said that was equivalent to 30,000 homes.

Councilman Timothy Ring asked what those figures were based on, noting, "There's no application before any land use board. This property is tied up in litigation right now. There are active court hearings. Nobody has submitted a plan to say we're going to build a data center there," and adding there was "no active plan."

Chiarell said his figures were based on a similar data center facility in Vineland.

He also raised concerns about water use and noise, saying the facility was projected to consume 1 million gallons of water each day and that such centers operate around the clock with cooling fans and diesel generators.

Council President Joan Geiger responded that "this council is taking the issue of data centers very seriously."

She said, "There are no specific detailed plans for there to be a data center in Bridgewater at this time," while adding that the governing body is researching the issue because "if there's vacant land, it could happen."

She also said it was her understanding that recent state legislation would limit megawatt levels and require data centers to cover their own electric costs and related infrastructure, though she noted, "I could be wrong" and said the matter warranted "further research."

On noise, Geiger said, "Bridgewater has a noise ordinance that limits the amount of noise that anyone can make," and added that "it would be difficult for a data center of any type of meaningful size to meet that criteria."

Council members also said they have received public emails on the topic and are reviewing them.

Geiger said the issue is "probably number one on my concern list."

Vice President Andrew Bucko added that he shared Chiarell's "concerns with the impact to the environment, specifically the water system and just clean air in general."

Councilwoman Ridwana Isla noted that in addition to getting questions from the public, they have trainings for planning and zoning board members.

"I attended the one at RVCC[Rartian Valley Community College] this year, and the keynote speaker, I think it was Judge Mennen. We did talk a little bit about AI data centers, and New Jersey is not ready for that was the judicial kind of background at a local level. That we're just not ready. The power that we've spoken about, we would have to build up a lot of infrastructure that's required to do this the right way," said Isla.

"We had playbooks for all these other upcoming zoning and planning issues, but it didn't seem like AI data centers was really something that's ready to go, and that's just from my perspective," said Isla.

Have a news tip? Email alexis.tarrazi@patch.com.