Data center construction divides US community: Lowell residents sue Markley over expansion and obtain temporary injunction

Residents of Lowell, Massachusetts, sued Markley Group over a data center expansion and obtained a temporary injunction in August, dividing the community over noise and health concerns. The city council unanimously passed a 360-day moratorium in March on construction and expansion of commercial data centers, but Markley's 352,000-square-foot site was exempted. Markley says its backup generators are tested for only 5 minutes per week and produce about 44 decibels of noise; residents worry that cooling tower mist carries Legionella and that home prices will fall.