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- Kay Richards, a resident of Northern Virginia, lives within a mile radius of 14 data centers.
- She faces diesel smells and ongoing buzzing from nearby data centers, but she refuses to move.
- She urges residents to fight against data center expansion by getting involved at the local level.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kay Richards, in her 60s, based in Manassas, Virginia. It’s been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider reached out to Amazon for comment, but did not receive one prior to publishing.
When my husband and I moved into our home over a decade ago, there were no data centers to be found. It was just an idyllic little neighborhood full of trees. It was our dream place.
Today, there are 14 data centers within a mile radius of our home, belonging to various companies.
The constant buzzing and smell of what I believe is diesel make it hard for me to even go in my backyard. It’s disheartening to see our community transformed by these industrial warehouses, but we’re not going anywhere.
We’ll continue to fight the developers as they try to build more. I will die on this hill and stay in this house.
An Amazon data center is only a few blocks from my house
Amazon was one of the first to start building its data center in our immediate area several years ago, and it’s still the closest one to us. The company tore down so many trees to build what looks like an industrial park — rows and rows of one-story concrete boxes. It’s ugly.
There’s a small buffer of green space, about two blocks, between our backyard and the data center, but we sit directly in its line of fire. At night, I can see its lights through my windows.
The whole back of our house used to be filled with green space, and it was really beautiful. Thank god there’s still some left, but it’s just not the same. It feels like everywhere I turn in the neighborhood, there’s another data center. There’s even an elementary school just a few blocks away from an Amazon data center.
The sound, light pollution, and smell from all of the data centers are the worst
I noticed the noise straight away. It’s a constant electrical hum that I can almost feel behind my eyes. Some people seem to notice it more than others.
If I’m inside my home on the first floor, I have a bit of a buffer from the noise, but when I’m upstairs, I feel and hear it the most. We have a lovely deck and backyard, but I can’t spend much time outside anymore. It’s even worse when the diesel generators kick on, and we have to deal with that smell.
The light pollution is also very prevalent. The lights from a nearby Amazon data center shine directly into my kitchen. It’s not as bad during the summer, but in the winter, it’s like somebody is shining a spotlight through our window.
Our community is fighting back
So many people in our community are going to county supervisor meetings, making noise, and doing anything they can to take a proactive stance against the development of future data centers. I think the way it has brought our community together is the only positive effect of them.
Unfortunately, our advocacy has not been very successful. We’re currently trying to change the noise ordinance to account for the buzzing of the data centers, but we’ll see.
No matter what happens, this is still our dream home. It’s not just the property that we love, it’s also the neighborhood and the people in it. We’re not moving, so we’ll just have to stand our ground and keep fighting.
Here’s my advice if a data center might be put in your area
Check your ordinances and make sure the developers have done their environmental studies before they break ground. Once they break ground at a data center site, it’s much more difficult to make any changes.
Stay on top of your representatives or get on the phone with your county supervisor. Be a squeaky wheel. I hope that more people get involved because that’s what it’s going to take to protect communities.
Do you have a story to share about living near a data center? If so, please reach out to the reporter at [email protected].
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