The Illinois Environmental Council and Prairie Rivers Network held a forum to discuss potential data centers being built near Bloomington-Normal.
Over 80 Bloomington-Normal residents attended to listen and share their thoughts on the subject.
“We’re here to talk about data centers and the community’s concerns with data centers, as we’ve seen a rise in community organizing across the state, and people are really passionate about data centers.” Scott Allen said.
Residents stated that their main concerns are rising electric costs, heavy water use, and potential impacts on drinking water.
Noise level is also a concern, with many residents saying that they don’t want to live near a data center.
“The way these projects are pitching themselves to municipalities makes it look like a really good deal for the community, but the impact on our water systems, on our electric grids, are not being mitigated.: Dr. Lindsay Marshall said.
“There’s nothing preventing these companies from coming in and exploiting our resources, depleting them, leaving, and then leaving us with a mess to clean up and more scarcity.”
Public forums give residents a chance to ask questions and share concerns as discussions continue.