Data Centers, Environmental Inequality, and Fredericksburg’s Big Decision
By Eric Bonds
GUEST COMMENTATOR
I will be teaching a class on environmental inequality in the spring semester at UMW. In previous semesters I’ve taught that environmental injustice in Fredericksburg is the result of historic decision-making.
The class might, for instance, consider the racial inequalities in the past that culminated in today’s situation where tanker cars with potentially hazardous materials are stored on the railroad tracks immediately next to Mayfield, a historically Black neighborhood. The class might also consider the historic decisions of city officials when they allowed an oil transmission company to bury a pipeline beneath the streets of Mayfield without first informing and consulting residents.
This upcoming semester, however, my students might see environmental injustice not only as the outcome of historic decisions, but also as the result of decisions made today.
According to a recent city council work session held on December 10, officials are planning to create a “Technology Overlay Zoning District” in the Celebrate South region of Fredericksburg. This zoning district will allow a data center campus to be built in the area “by-right” (or without future city council approval), as long as it meets certain conditions. Data centers can produce substantial local tax revenue, which is why our city leaders have sought to attract them to our town.
While I am worried about the outsized climate impacts of data centers, I am even more concerned about the local environmental justice implications of this particular proposal. As it currently exists, the data center zoning district almost completely surrounds the Seasons residential neighborhood (which has more than 400 apartment units) and an assisted-living facility (please see map from the council work session).
Environmental injustice happens when the well-being of a group of people is undermined for financial gain. As this proposal now stands, the residents of the Seasons neighborhood will certainly be negatively impacted.
The recent Joint Legislative Audit and Research Commission (JLARC) report on data centers was largely supportive of the role that they play in our state economy. But the authors did insist that data centers are a type of industrial development, and should be treated as such. The authors recommend that they be zoned as industry and that “land use principles state that industrial uses and residential uses should not be zoned next to each other.”
If these land use principles are not upheld in Celebrate South, residents of the Seasons neighborhood will experience a number of harms, the first of which is local air pollution.
The JLARC study states that data centers are not a major source of industrial pollution at a regional level in Virginia. But the authors acknowledge that the backup diesel generators that must be routinely operated for short bursts of time for maintenance and testing do emit toxic pollution into the air.
While running these generators for say 15 minutes every month may not seem dangerous, it’s important to remember the immense scale of data center energy needs. Taken together, these generators can produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of thousands of households. In the event of a major power outage, these diesel generators will run for hours, emitting potentially harmful emissions into the surrounding area.
Many data centers also produce noise. Regulations proposed in the overlay district say that this noise should not be more than 60 decibels at the property boundary, or about as loud as a normal conversation. But even a quiet industrial hum is still an industrial hum, one that is unceasing. People living next to data centers in Northern Virginia report that this constant buzzing diminishes their quality of life.
Finally, the Seasons neighborhood will be negatively impacted by the immense size of this industrial development. Right now, residents can sit on their balconies or look out their windows and enjoy the greenery of forests and open space. If this proposal goes through, they will instead see massive warehouse-style buildings.
The Overlay Zone will allow buildings up to 90 feet tall. While the actual buildings probably won’t be nearly this high, they will still tower above the tree plantings required at the property boundary. Residents will also likely see bright industrial lighting at night, security fencing, major new powerlines, and a new large electrical substation.
My students this upcoming semester may see environmental injustice unfold. But it doesn’t need to be this way. They might instead witness a different kind of history. Perhaps they will see community members rise up to say that no Fredericksburg neighborhood should be sacrificed for financial gain. Maybe students will see members of our City Council recognize that, as desirable as the tax revenue from data centers may be, it should not come at the expense of people living next door.
Eric Bonds is a resident of Fredericksburg and a professor of sociology at the University of Mary Washington. These viewpoints are his alone and do not reflect the position of the institution where he works.
Local Obituaries
To view local obituaries or to send a note to family and loved ones, please visit the link that follows.
Support Award-winning, Locally Focused Journalism
The FXBG Advance cuts through the talking points to deliver both incisive and informative news about the issues, people, and organizations that daily affect your life. And we do it in a multi-partisan format that has no equal in this region. Over the past year, our reporting was:
First to break the story of Stafford Board of Supervisors dismissing a citizen library board member for “misconduct,” without informing the citizen or explaining what the person allegedly did wrong.
First to explain falling water levels in the Rappahannock Canal.
First to detail controversial traffic numbers submitted by Stafford staff on the Buc-ee’s project
Our media group also offers the most-extensive election coverage in the region and regular columnists like:
And our newsroom is led by the most-experienced and most-awarded journalists in the region — Adele Uphaus (Managing Editor and multiple VPA award-winner) and Martin Davis (Editor-in-Chief, 2022 Opinion Writer of the Year in Virginia and more than 25 years reporting from around the country and the world).
For just $8 a month, you can help support top-flight journalism that puts people over policies.
Your contributions 100% support our journalists.
Help us as we continue to grow!
