Markley Lowell is currently ground zero in the commonwealth for the growing anxiety nationwide about the impact of data centers on communities, including water usage, utility bills and air and noise pollution. Even the massive size of these facilities can overwhelm neighborhoods.
Some communities are fighting back by filing lawsuits, protesting and demanding political action from their elected officials.
In April, a coalition of 10 Lowell residents filed suit in Middlesex Superior Court against the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and Markley Group LLC.
The 94-page filing challenges the final decision by MassDEP in authorizing Markley’s operation of 27 industrial diesel backup generators and 16 cooling towers in the middle of a densely populated residential community prior to final plan approval, a process the suit called a “flawed air quality plan.”
A spokesperson for the agency said MassDEP rigorously reviewed Markley Group’s air permit application to make sure it met all compliance, reporting and environmental justice requirements.
“We remain committed to enforcing all Massachusetts environmental laws and ensuring Markley abides by the terms of the permit,” MassDEP said by email shortly after the suit was filed.
The case was heard July 29, with Judge William Barrett presiding. Plaintiff Alex Solange, who attended the hearing, said the judge listened to both sides.
“I think he was really listening and asked a lot of questions,” Solange said by phone Friday. “He said he’s going to think about it.”
Air quality is just one concern of neighbors — noise is another.
Two additional residents are plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against Markley alleging that through its operation and maintenance of the 352,000-square-foot data center, Markley “continues to emit unreasonable and excessive noise onto the Plaintiffs’ properties thereby causing property damages through private nuisance and negligence.”
That case has not yet been heard.
Politically, the data center debate is gathering momentum. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul halted construction of large data centers for one year pending an environmental review in New York, and activist organizations like the Party for Socialism and Liberation have held protests and door-knocking campaigns in impacted communities.
From Lowell to Westfield: Data centers in Mass.
Markley’s Lowell location is in addition to the company’s almost 1 million-square-foot facility located above Macy’s in Boston’s Downtown Crossing.
Resident concerns in Lowell echo those in communities like Westfield, in which residents are digging in to do battle against an approved $4 billion data center.
Both communities passed moratoriums, halting future growth. The existing and proposed facilities are not impacted, raising further questions about the limits to local control and whether communities are prepared for the deep pockets and complex legal structures that drive this form of high-tech growth.
From ‘carrier hotels’ to AI
Like Markley Boston, Markley Lowell is a colocation data center that rents secure space to local and regional organizations to run their own technology. Those companies include the Red Sox, universities and even games of chance. The Massachusetts State Lottery Commission named Markley Boston as its colocation service provider in 2021.
Markley recently expanded its footprint in Lowell, purchasing multiple properties in and around its existing facility at 1 Markley Way in the city’s Sacred Heart neighborhood. The parcels either contain or are colocated to generators of the scale needed to power data centers, perhaps even artificial intelligence. The company’s website recently added “Now available for your generative AI workloads.”
The data center company has not divulged its long-term development plans for any of its sites, but power generation that doesn’t negatively impact rate payers may be part of that strategy, which would be in keeping with Gov. Maura Healey’s data center framework, which was released in June.
Healey advocates accountability
Healey has previously said Massachusetts was “leading the country” on issues related to data center growth.
The governor said the hold on applications for the 20-year sales- and use-tax exemptions for qualified data centers, which she agreed to as part of a 2024 economic development law, will remain in effect “until we have strong protections in place for our residents and communities against higher gas and electric bills.”
“I’ve been clear if data centers are going to come, they need to come with accountability to the community,” she said following a July 10 event in Lowell. “They have to be able to generate their own energy. It has to be clean energy. They can’t hurt the environment. They can’t hurt our water supply. They can’t cause environmental pollutions.”
Markley Lowell launches info campaign
In response to growing pushback from both residents and city leadership, Markley Lowell launched a website, “Keeping Lowell in the Loop” that makes the argument that the company has improved both the neighborhood and the Gateway City’s prospects through strategic investments.
“For more than a decade, the Markley data center has been a steady, reliable part of Lowell,” the website said. “It brought a long-empty factory back to life and quietly keeps the systems our community depends on running every day.”
Elsewhere, it says, “The City Council’s moratorium puts Lowell’s jobs, services, and one of its largest investments at risk. It doesn’t have to.”
Its “Facts, not fiction” section disputes resident claims of excessive water use and noise and air quality concerns. It does not address gas and electricity rates.
Like many large corporate developments in most municipalities, Markley received a 20-year $77 million tax break from the city of Lowell through 2035.
In the data center ecosystem, Markley Lowell’s 14-acre site, and current 40 megawatts of power, pales in comparison to the proposed almost 3 million-square-feet and 300-megawatt facility in Westfield, but both projects speak to the rising angst among voters of all persuasions of what this inexplicable and propulsive growth means for their future.
“People are really angry about what the city allowed this guy to do,” Solange said, referring to President Jeff Markley, who sued the city over the moratorium applying to its most recent purchases. According to Jeff Markley, Markley Lowell and the city have since agreed to dismiss the lawsuit “by joint stipulation.”
“We’re going to speak in the voting booth this November,” Solange said.
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