Updated 4:15 p.m. — Residents say they’re doing the heavy lifting and negotiating with data center firms to help protect their neighborhoods and quality of life.
They want the local Prince William County Government to step in and do more to protect residents as more data centers — the backbone of the internet — encroach on the surrounding areas outside Manassas and western Prince William County.
About 100 people gathered outside an Amazon data center under construction at Godwin and Central Park drives in Manassas at 2 p.m. Monday, August 29, to protest the noise levels emitted by the data centers. The data hub is about 600 feet from the Great Oaks residential neighborhood.
“Many people are experiencing sleep impacts caused by the Amazon noise. Sleep disruption has increased their stress and anxiety levels. This irritating sound has exacerbated migraine issues and, in one case, is contributing to worsening symptoms for a rare autoimmune disorder,” said Great Oaks HOA President Dale Browne.
Browne said he’s met with Amazon twice this summer to complain about the noise. After a study Amazon performed at its facility, the internet giant agreed to shroud some of its rooftop equipment it says produced the sound at nearly 60 decibels, which it says is within the legal noise limit in Prince William County.
An Amazon spokesman says they’ve heard their neighbors’ complaints and will address them.
“Addressing our neighbor’s noise concerns in Prince William County is a priority for us. We started installing sound-reducing acoustical shrouds at our data center in Manassas last Friday, and this work will be completed in the coming weeks. This is just one of several sound reduction measures our team is evaluating. We are proud to call Virginia home and remain committed to working with and listening to our neighbors to further improve the environment around our facilities,” an Amazon Web Services spokesman said.
Organizers say they are pushing local government officials to update the sound ordinances changed, but those requests have fallen on deaf ears.
“Why do individual citizens have to conduct these negotiations? We are filling the void of government. Government should be sitting here setting standards and writing ordinances,” said Bill Wright of Gainesville. “We can’t get anybody to pay attention to us.”
More data centers have popped up in Prince William in recent years, which is now challenging Loudoun County as the concentrated hub for server farms. Tech companies that choose to build here value the area’s access to fiber lines, large swaths of open land, and cheaper tax rates.
Many protesters say they welcome data centers — just not next to residential areas.
What we did not come here to do is live next to an industrial zone, let alone the world’s largest data center industrial zone. When a family finds a home, whether it’s “forever” or just for now, they look for the basic things that make everyday family life work for them,” said Kathy Kulick, vice-chair of the HOA Roundtable of Prince William County. “But the overriding quality we all want in a home is the simple… lawful quiet enjoyment of typical residential life, to be able to sleep through the night, concentrate on homework, enjoy family and friends, grill a burger on the deck, toss a ball around with our children, or tend to our garden without the sound of a virtual jet engine keeping us company, or keeping us up all night.”
On September 14, the Prince William County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the proposed Digital Gateway Project, which aims to rezone more than 2,100 acres near the Manassas National Battlefield Park from AE, Agricultural or Estate and ER, Environmental Resource to Technology / Flex (T/F). The proposed area is 15 times larger than Potomac Mills mall in Woodbridge by comparison.
The public hearing for the project, which has polarized the community, is open to the public and starts at 7 p.m. at 1 County Complex Court in Woodbridge.
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