The Somerville City Council has approved an 18-month moratorium on a potential bitcoin mining data center in the small town's limits after several local residents voiced opposition to the facility.
Following the council's vote on Tuesday, Somerville Mayor Darren Tucker spoke to 1819 News about his views on data centers and the moratorium's goal of allowing local leaders additional time to study the issue before making a permanent decision.
"A data center depreciates the value of your property because of the noise pollution," Tucker explained. "They are well-lit up at night, they don't know the long-term health effects and it can cause people's electric bills to inflate every month."
He continued, "I'm all for capitalism. I'm all for people making money. But these big companies, they're going to be from either Texas or Atlanta, and they're coming to rural Somerville, and they're buying 15 acres in a community that's just a farming community, or a place that people have horses and are just looking to retire. Then they're going to build a 10-acre building on that spot."
The mayor hopes that in the near future, legislation will be enacted to place stricter limits on where data centers can be constructed.
"I just think that there ought to be some kind of legislative act coming up next year, where if they do that, then they would have to buy enough land to not hurt the aesthetics of that rural area," outlined Tucker. "Put it in the center of 100 acres, or make them do it in an industrial park."
"Data centers are in, and they're needed, but it shouldn't have to come on the backs of rural people," he added.
Somerville residents are justified in their concern regarding the possible data center. In Memphis, Tenn., local citizens have raised concerns over natural gas turbines at a nearby data center, with neighboring communities now reportedly experiencing high asthma rates. Another data center in Loudon County, Va., has reportedly caused sleep disruptions and headaches for residents due to a constant "hum" resonating from the facility.
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