Princeton Asks DEP To Deny Air Permit For South Brunswick Data Center

PRINCETON, NJ — The Princeton mayor and council are asking state environmental officials to reject the air permit for a proposed data center in neighboring South Brunswick. They say its backup diesel generators could harm air quality and public health in town.

In a statement released Thursday, the governing body said it has "grave concerns" about the generators. Their emissions, officials said, "will undoubtedly send emissions across municipal boundaries, often negatively affecting air quality and public health in Princeton's residential neighborhoods and at two of our elementary schools."

"We urge DEP to deny the air permit application for the center in its present form," the statement said.

The statement was submitted to the state Department of Environmental Protection. It followed remarks at Monday's council meeting by Kip Cherry of the Sierra Club, who urged officials to weigh in before the public comment period closes Oct. 7.

'Minor source' Label Disputed

The DEP has classified the project as a "minor source" of air pollution. The council says that label is wrong.

The statement said the center's 20 generators, "misleadingly characterized as 'minor sources' of emissions," would run during power outages, for routine testing and during periods of peak or critical demand.

"Powerful storms and extended heat waves are occurring more frequently in this region," the statement said. "The data center will significantly increase demand on infrastructure that is already under strain, and operating the generators will make the site a major source of emissions."

Cherry made the same argument Monday, telling the council the town is "at a critical juncture."

"DEP, as I said, classified this thing as a minor source, which it is not," Cherry said. She put the project at about 70 megawatts. She said the DEP also gave a minor source classification to an Amazon facility along the Delaware River that is estimated at 500 to 600 megawatts.

'The Wind Does Blow Towards Princeton'

Cherry said the generators would release "40 hazardous air pollutants, including soot particles, toxic gases, and known carcinogens such as formaldehyde and benzene."

"It's the way the wind blows, but the wind does blow towards Princeton periodically from this direction," Cherry said.

Cherry also pointed to how near the site is to homes. "If you look at the map, you would see how close this thing is to Poe Road and that whole neighborhood," Cherry said. "Because I think many people don't realize how close it is."

The DEP held a hearing on the permit last week at the Sierra Club's request. Cherry said about 200 people attended and about 30 spoke.

Mayor Mark Freda said at the meeting that the plan for the data center doesn't add up.

"The logic behind telling people to go off the grid and run your generators on the worst possible days, it just makes no sense," he said. "And having diesel generators in today's day and age makes absolutely no sense either."

Push For Clean Backup Power

The statement released by council also pointed to Gov. Mikie Sherrill's plan to keep data centers from burdening ratepayers and host communities. Announced in May, it includes requiring data centers to add new clean energy capacity to the grid. The statement said the relevant legislation has not yet passed, but that the DEP "should be guided by the principles behind this plan."

"As a best practice, South Brunswick's data center should have backup power in the form of a solar array, wind turbines, and/or geothermal generation paired with battery storage," the statement said. If that can't meet full demand, officials said, extra backup power should come from natural gas generators combined with off-site clean energy infrastructure.

"In the interest of our constituents and the residents of all neighboring communities, we strongly urge DEP to take every possible measure to ensure that this data center does not become an environmental blight on our region," the statement said.

Opposition Growing In The Area

In August, Sherrill signed a law requiring data center operators to report their energy and water use to the state Board of Public Utilities twice a year. Dozens of protesters gathered outside the South Brunswick Library that day, calling for a statewide moratorium on new hyperscale data centers.

East Brunswick and North Brunswick have also passed local bans on data center construction.

The public comment period on the air permit closes Oct. 7.

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