By the time Krista Meredith learned last winter that an AI data center was coming to her community in the suburbs of Canton, Ohio, the site was already dotted with construction equipment.
A nurse practitioner who has lived in the area for two decades, Meredith is concerned about how the project could affect water and air quality around the Rust Belt city that was once defined by steel mills and now houses a mix of affluent and working-class neighborhoods.
But unbeknownst to her — one of hundreds who signed a petition against the data center — the only required federal permit was issued last August. And there was no chance for the public to weigh in.
As a tidal wave of sprawling energy- and water-guzzling data centers are proposed across the country, opponents are finding that one of their strongest levers for challenging projects has all but disappeared.
