Stop Bell Works Data Center

To Holmdel Township Officials, Board Members, and Staff, I am writing as a resident to ask everyone receiving this letter to use their role in Holmdel to stop the proposed Bell Works data center from moving forward. If received by the Planning Board, I ask that it be included in the public record. This is a 108,000-square-foot, 40-megawatt data center proposed just 91 feet from the nearest residential property line. Plans call for 1,176 server racks, major electrical and cooling infrastructure, transformers, switchgear, and eight backup diesel generators. For a project this large and this close to homes, the application should be complete. It is not. Major questions remain about the project boundaries, electrical service, cooling, noise, diesel fuel storage, stormwater, groundwater, and emergency response. JCP&L has not committed to providing the full 40 MW requested and has said additional upgrades, easements, equipment, or even a substation could be required. There is also no completed operational noise study showing what nearby residents would hear from cooling equipment, transformers, switchgear, pumps, and generators operating around the clock. That is especially concerning because homes surround the site, even though the Environmental Impact Report states there are “No sensitive receptors adjacent.” The diesel infrastructure also deserves much more scrutiny. A 40 MW facility could require backup generators capable of burning up to 72,000 gallons of diesel per day. Four days of backup fuel could mean nearly 300,000 gallons stored on site. Yet the application does not fully identify the final generator models, total fuel storage, refueling plans, fuel-transfer infrastructure, or containment systems. This is particularly concerning because the project would sit only several hundred feet from Hop Brook, which flows into the Swimming River Reservoir and a drinking-water system serving more than 300,000 Monmouth County residents. The Bell Works property also has existing groundwater contamination involving PFAS and other pollutants. The site’s Licensed Site Remediation Professional has warned that additional groundwater recharge could expand contaminant plumes toward surface waters and interfere with remediation. At the same time, the stormwater documents appear inconsistent about whether groundwater recharge will increase. There are also unresolved questions involving steep-slope disturbance, emergency response planning, and whether battery or other energy-storage systems will be used. Beyond the technical concerns, this project would change the character of Holmdel. Our town is defined by its neighborhoods, open space, agricultural history, and the Bell Works campus itself. A massive industrial data center, diesel generators, and major electrical infrastructure beside homes is not the future residents should be forced to accept. Once something of this scale is built, it cannot simply be undone. I am asking the Planning Board to require all missing information to be submitted, reviewed by Township professionals, and made public before the record closes. Any major changes to electrical service, cooling, generators, fuel storage, or stormwater design should return for public review instead of being worked out after approval. Residents should not be asked to accept “we will provide it later” for a project that could permanently affect our neighborhoods, environment, drinking water, and quality of life. Please protect Holmdel and do not approve the Bell Works data center. Sincerely,