The site of the former Prince pasta factory in Lowell, Massachusetts, which is now an artificial intelligence data center.
Artificial intelligence is fueling demand for data centers across the country, but in Lowell, one facility has become the center of a yearslong battle
“We were the OG, if you will, of data centers. Nobody knew what a data center was when it came to Lowell,” said Jack Fortes, who grew up next to the site
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Now, Fortes knows more than he ever thought he would. The backyard of his childhood home in Lowell has looked different ever since the Markley Group turned the old Prince Spaghetti factory into a data center
That was in 2015 – long before the AI boom began. Fortes says he’s constantly listening for the diesel generators on the other side of the fence to fire up
“When these turn on, they pollute our neighborhood,” he said. “I just had that experience this morning. They turned it on for five minutes and filled up my entire yard with fumes”
Frustrated, Fortes started the group Honest Future for Lowell, which is fighting for environmental justice and community dignity
“There are all sorts of things that we have brought to the Markley Group to say how to fix this. Markley’s like if you don’t like it, leave,” he said
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Residents are working with environmental advocates to stop Markley’s expansion plans. The lawsuit is ongoing
Alexandra Enriquez St. Pierre, vice president of the Environmental Justice Program at the Conservation Law Foundation, said the case is about giving residents a voice
“This entire case is about fairness and fairness to a community that’s trying to go about their lives in a place they’ve called home for years. And they just want to have a say in what that looks like,” she said
Jaclyn Casey, a marketing manager for the Markley Group, said the company is confident the case will be dismissed
“This claim has been submitted before and it was dismissed, so Markley is very confident that it will be dismissed again,” said Casey
The Markley Group invited NBC10 Boston inside its Lowell data center to get a firsthand look at the operation
Inside, the facility looks like a normal office until visitors reach the uninterruptible power supply rooms, of which there are 18. The building also houses suites where servers are kept, though NBC10 Boston was not allowed to film those areas
Markley said its facility is different from the hyperscale data centers driven by the AI boom and that its Lowell site focuses on data needed for cloud computing and data storage
“We’re serving hospitals, universities, police departments,” Casey added. “Anytime you’re looking up anything on your phone or sending an email, all of that has to go through our building.”
Markley staff gave NBC10 Boston a tour of the grounds. When asked about the diesel generators behind Fortes’ home, Markley said each generator runs for five minutes every week, with no set schedule
Cooling fans on the roof have also been a point of contention
“It is loud. It is regularly loud here,” Fortes added
Markley employees said the campus is quiet, and that visitors are more likely to hear birds chirping
When asked whether any of the backlash from community members is fair, Casey said misinformation has played a role
“We do feel like there is a lot of misinformation that has been put out there for sure,” she said
Markley said part of that misinformation comes from being lumped in with a different class of data centers now drawing national attention
“We’ve been here for a decade, and these complaints really started coming up just as data centers, hyperscale facilities, and the AI boom are starting to reach the news,” Casey added. “So we’re just trying to get ourselves away from that narrative to remind people of what we’ve always been here.”
Since NBC10’s visit, Markley Lowell has launched a website and Facebook page “to communicate with our neighbors and provide a place to clear up misinformation about Markley’s campus and operations,” according to the company.
NBC10 Boston will continue this story with a closer look at the economic benefits of data centers, along with nationwide concerns over water use, electricity demand and environmental impacts as the need for these facilities continues to grow
