Learn about data centers at Rock Island meeting

Data centers are making headlines across the country and communities are gathering together to discuss their impact. Prairie Rivers Network is hosting a presentation on data centers and how they affect communities on Tuesday, August 18^th from 6 – 8 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Center, 630 9^th Street in Rock Island.

Nina Struss, River Health and Resiliency Organizer with Prairie Rivers Network, spoke with Our Quad Cities News via Zoom to explain what will happen at the meeting.

She said the program will present the latest information on data centers and encourage public discussion. “We're going to be doing some brief presentations by partners that are going to cover the landscape of data center development, their impacts on communities. We're also going to have the opportunity for roundtable discussions that will allow attendees to have the opportunity to really share their perspectives and ask questions. The goal is to wrap up the evening by having a discussion of next steps and community-informed action, so that way people can know how to lead with those next steps.”

“We’ll provide a little bit of context from the landscape of data centers from both Illinois and Iowa,” she said. “The event is designed to focus on ensuring that people understand what data centers are, how they work. There's a lot of big terms that get used in those conversations, so we have a glossary that people will be able to utilize and reference and just really understand and have a better overview of what data centers are, how they're impacting communities, and how we can really get ahead of the game, both locally and statewide.”

Struss said every city has its own challenges when it comes to building a data center. “But there are some common threads that typically are coming through, especially in these events that we've been doing throughout the state. Residents are concerned about what these developments could mean for the water supply, how they might affect energy bills, utility bills and other potential impacts, the environmental ones like air and noise pollution, and how those can have an effect on communities.”

“We're hoping for people to leave the meeting with and maybe help provide a little bit more context too. We really want to ensure that everybody who comes to the meeting, regardless if they have any prior familiarity with the issue, that they leave with a clear understanding of data center development and its potential implications to our communities.”

She says it’s important to hear and address concerns from all residents in the area. “We also want them to create a space for residents from both sides of the river to be able to voice their concerns and have those concerns genuinely heard. We have some examples from both Iowa and Illinois that can allow people who are attending to see that there is local decision making. There are ways that local decision makers can also help to ensure that regulations are somehow brought into the picture too and can help figure out how we shape the community's response, not only at the state levels but here locally too.”

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