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October 2024
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Neighborhood Takeover8/24/2024 In 1957, some 13 homes existed on a private street in the Roppolo subdivision in unincorporated Elk Grove Township along with the Dierking family farm all near Chicago. That farm included a three-story farmhouse moved from near what would become O’Hare International Airport after World War II.
The neighborhood grew to 55 homes between Higgins and Landmeier roads just east of Busse Road and enjoyed a peaceful existence for the next 65 years. Texas-based Stream Data Centers purchased all 55 homes in the Roppolo subdivision in late 2023 and began razing them in February to make way for a three-building, 2.1 million sq. ft. data center campus.
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Noise & More8/21/2024 Many individuals agree that if you try and negotiate with these big corporations and they get their foot in the door, you will have difficulty controlling them. They will submit variance after variance and sue the town until they get what they want. This is why they prey on small towns.
In other words, we want to avoid negotiating with these predators. They hope the Council and Planning Commission and the Town Lawyer are incompetent and will fall for their tricks. I have faith that this will not happen in our town and that you will do all it takes to protect this town. Chesterton was smart and protected their residents. In the meantime, I also wanted to highlight some concerning quotes from the article below. According to former NASA Scientist Dr. John Lyver, residents, students, and teachers as far as 2.5 miles could be affected. --- • Former NASA Scientist Dr. John Lyver and Heritage Hunt resident believe this would be a mistake. He conducted a noise study on the proposed and existing data centers, analyzing the way noise travels through the air and over the topography. • Last week, Lyver released an updated version of his study and findings. It shows sound radiating from data centers would reach sound levels that would violate the county sound ordinance of 55-60 decibels, thus disrupting the peace. However, HVAC systems are currently exempt from such ordinances in Prince William County. • Among multitudes of concerns surrounding data centers, noise pollution has emerged as the most concerning. Data center HVAC systems produce a low hum, which the brain has difficulty filtering out. Lyver contends that so many large data buildings all within close proximity would amplify the sound. That level of sound could travel as far as 2.5 miles. • People living near data centers, such as those in Chandler, Arizona claim to experience health problems, stress, and difficulty sleeping. Constant noise has negative effects on the body even in other forms such as construction sound, which could go on for 10-20 years as data centers are being built in the area. • Containing sound is not an easy or inexpensive fix (which is the reason data centers are reluctant to handle the problem on their end.) Protecting classrooms at Chris Yung Elementary School could cost an estimated $20 million, according to Dr. Lyver's research. • These levels of noise will impact student learning in three ways: • excessive noise in the classroom will disrupt the quality of learning, • a vital part of a rounded education is for students to play, learn, and interact outside the school building in learning and physical activities, • and stress-induced health issues in children and school staff personnel.
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The Cloud Is Not Silent8/15/2024 This excerpt was taken from a scientific article, "Popular Science" "Inside the physical footprint of the Cloud." It describes the noise pollution factor on members of the community who live close to a Hyperscale Datacenter. Its a bit wordy, but very informative, and honestly a bit scary. I realize the need for datacenters, but as this article stresses, NOT NEAR residential areas, and certainly should not be a mile from a school. Dear Peculiar Board Members and Staff, please read this, and tell me how you would justify that money is more important than lives.  Over vast distances, the sonic exhaust of our digital lives reverberates: the minute vibrations of hard disks, the rumbling of air chillers, the cranking of diesel generators, the mechanical spinning of fans. Data centers emit acoustic waste, what environmentalists call “noise pollution.” For communities like Brenda’s and David’s, the computational whir of data centers is not merely an annoyance, but a source of mental and physical harm. Brenda, a nurse by training, reported an uptick in her blood pressure and cortisol levels with the onset of the noise. David, a twenty-something software engineer, was diagnosed with hypertension, and meets frequently with a clinical therapist to manage the anxiety caused by the data center’s hum. Their stories are cautionary tales; they are neither uncommon nor exceptional. The acute and longitudinal physiological effects of industrial noise pollution are well-documented to include hearing loss, elevated stress hormones like cortisol, hypertension, and insomnia. Brenda and David met with other disaffected residents in their respective communities to organize for change. Brenda soon joined the Dobson Noise Coalition, helping to organize a community meeting with her neighbors, city officials, state and federal representatives, and employees of CyrusOne, the offending data center. David took a stand with others in his building, successfully mobilizing the Chicago Department of Public Health to file a noise complaint on their behalf and successfully obtain a hearing for a noise pollution violation. While the efforts of these communities to minimize the noise pollution harming them are ongoing, they are resigned to modest goals to improve rather than solve the problem. Unlike other industries, data centers are largely self-regulating: There is no sweeping federal agency to govern the siting and operation of new and existing facilities. Because data center noise is unregulated by political authorities, facilities can be built in close proximity to residential communities. Given the subjective nature of hearing, the history of noise regulation might best be characterized by a series of contests over expertise and the “right” to quiet, as codified in liberal legal regimes. Over the course of my fieldwork with the communities of Chandler and Printer’s Row, I learned that the “noise” of the Cloud uniquely eludes regulatory schemes. In many cases, the loudness of the data centers, as measured in decibels (dB), falls below the threshold of intolerance as prescribed by local ordinances. For this reason, when residents contacted the authorities to intervene, to attenuate or quiet their noise, no action was taken, because the data centers had not technically violated the law, and their properties were zoned for industrial purposes. However, upon closer interrogation of the sound, some residents reported that the monotonal drone, a frequency hovering within the range of human speech, is particularly disturbing, given the attuned sensitivity of human ears to discern such frequencies above others. Even so, there were days when the data centers, running diesel generators, vastly exceeded permissible decibel-thresholds for noise. As with water and carbon, local companies like CyrusOne pledged in community meetings to take steps to attenuate their sound, though these were unenforceable promises that, to date, they have failed to keep.
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Massive Industrial Complex8/15/2024
Most of the light green and purple areas on this map will become HYPERSCALE Data Centers. How about people on Knight road and YY, and Mullen Road. Let this get in and you too will have a data center/dump in your back yard or front... 
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It's NOT just Peculiar8/12/2024 Here’s a story from Gallatin, Tenn shared with me by a resident. The plans for their data center began in 2017 and residents learned about it in 2020. She said they used a code name so residents weren’t really aware of what was happening. It was too late by the time they knew what was really going on. This resident purchased 11 acres, not near the data center. They met with the electric company and were assured that power poles would not be placed near their new home build. A year later, the electric company put poles feet from their new home. They were never informed of the changes. She said they should’ve sold their land before building but were deceived.
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Power is the key8/11/2024 ●Start connecting the Dots. POWER Plant next to Diode Hyper-Scale Data Center, Transmission lines every which way, looking for upward of 1GW of power for Hyper-Scale Centers in Peculiar. These are HUGE facilities that will consume Peculiar. ●NO Hyper-Scale Data Centers● Anywhere Near Residential Neighborhoods. Hyper-Scale are not Light Industrial. ●No Gas Fired Power plants● Near Residential homes, schools. If Peculiar and Cass County property owners and Citizens don't start Getting Organized and involved, We are going to get sold out to BiG Tech And Big energy companies. If you haven't yet, Give your County Commissioners a call and Email to let them hear your concerns. They seem to think this is Just a Peculiar issue. Solar, Wind farms, Hyper-Scale Data Centers, Power Plants. Zero or out dated Regulations To protect our quality of Life, Our property values, Our Kids future. Noise polution Health impacts, Set-backs, Buffer zones, and Zoning doesn't exist to the extent for protecting the Community and Citizens These things need a big 1-mile buffer zone like a land fill.. They look More like a prison. Aquila 2.0 17% increase to our base rate from Evergy West Starting Jan 1, 2025 Who's paying for Data centers power?  |
PEACEFUL PECULIAR
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