Amid Uproar From Limerick Area Residents, State Approves Data Center Area Land Swap

LIMERICK, PA — A major and controversial land swap was approved by the Pennsylvania Game Commission over the weekend that deeds a key tract of land to a developer in Limerick in an area immediately adjacent to a possible data center. The move has reignited furor from local residents activists who have mounted intense opposition to the idea of a data center.

Limerick Town Center LLC received a 55 acre swath of Pennsylvania Game Lands 234 from the state in the swap, along with a 200-foot right of way across a portion of the remaining state-owned land. The land is immediately adjacent to the former Publicker distillery site, a property already owned by the developer, so it vastly expands their reach.

The developer has not officially submitted a proposal for a data center, but it's widely believed it's only a matter of time. The area is zoned "heavy industrial," which means it's already primed for a data center.

The project is distinct from another data center plan near the Limerick Generating Station, which is also being fought by residents and locally elected officials.

"Anywhere near high-voltage transmission lines is a sitting duck for a data center," State Sen. Katie Muth said. "(With this land swap), we are one step closer to turning our communities into Data Center Alley 2.0."

Muth said the location, size of the combined properties, and zoning all indicate a "hyperscale" data center, massive facilities that offer extreme scalability and which big data companies need to power their artificial intelligence products.

The Game Commission supported the swap by a vote of 6-3. Commissioners Stanley Knick Jr., Allen DiMarco, and Bob Schwalm dissented.

Five of the six commissioners who voted in favor of the swap, including commissioners Haley Sankey (Blair County), Kristen Koppenhafer (Warren County), Dennis R. Fredericks (Washington County), Scott H. Foradora (Jefferson County), and Michael Mitrick (York County), are from regions hundreds of miles away from the game lands in Limerick they voted on.

The vote came during a Jan. 24 meeting in which all nine commissioners heard from countless residents who showed up in person to voice their concerns.

"Data centers, they're just a bad deal for wildlife in general," local resident Theresa Guido told the board. "And people just don't know it yet."

The science backs up Guido's point, which was made repeatedly by residents to a Game Commission board that is charged with managing and protecting wild animals and birds and their habitats across the state.

Development will obviously chew up what is a crucial habitat for songbirds and migratory birds, waterfowl, red-shouldered hawks, owls, and more. It eliminates one of the few hunting grounds easily accessible from the densely developed greater Philadelphia region. And once completed, it will impose a hefty burden on the electric grid to power it and the local water grid to cool it.

These are somewhat obvious consequences that have been shared by activists opposing numerous similar projects in the region, including in Conshohocken and East Vincent Township. But public speakers at the Saturday meeting addressed further concerns, like air pollution from emissions and noise pollution from the constant running of the generators.

Like with other data center proposals, the big tech behemoth that would ultimately be the beneficiary of the Limerick projects has not been publicly disclosed. And though state officials like Sen. Muth and many local representatives have worked closely to advocate for the thousands of residents who oppose the projects, the proposals have both massive corporations and Gov. Josh Shapiro on their side.

Aside from investing some $20 billion in Amazon, Shapiro has also supported legislation that would entirely remove local control over energy infrastructure projects and hand it over to a state "Reliable Energy Siting and Electric Transition (RESET) Board." This would allow Shapiro-backed efforts to essentially circumvent the entire established zoning and hearing process.

As part of the land swap, the Game Commission received back from the developer 176 acres in Edgemont Township in Delaware County, and 377.2 acres in Bern Township in Berks County.

There is no known timeline for the next steps of the development of the Limerick land, though as of now, it must still go through a significant hearing process with the township.