As the election approaches, the data center issue gets hotter and hotter around here.
Our own GOP Congressman Dan Meuser, who gushed in July that these behemoths are “almost a renaissance” for Pennsylvania’s economy, stressed last week that landowners and communities must “come first.”
Contrarian Democratic Sen. John Fetterman echoed Donald Trump’s call to “let data reign” and blamed the Chinese Communist Party for the opposition to the near-renaissance.
Meanwhile, Trump’s Environmental “Protection” Agency proposes eliminating requirements for states to notify the public and seek comment before issuing permits for data centers and other industrial facilities.
And Spotlight PA shocked us Schuylkill Countians when it reported last month that our three commissioners signed a nondisclosure agreement in 2025 so they could attend an introductory meeting about Amazon’s proposed hyperscale data center in Kline Township.
The news hit home for me because it came only a couple of months after we escaped a stealth invasion by the Department of Homeland “Security” and ICE, which had quietly bought a Tremont Township warehouse to convert to an immigrant concentration camp.
Apparently, Amazon was being as sneaky as the feds.
At their regular meeting on Aug. 26, the commissioners and county Solicitor Paul Datte addressed the NDA.
“The advice would be that there was no harm in signing it,” Datte said. “ … Actually, it wasn’t (from) Amazon at that point.” At the meeting in question, the county officials learned the developer’s identity and received a rendering of the potential site.
Datte emphasized that he and the commissioners insisted on adding a clause saying the county would still abide by state Right to Know laws.
But if you’re kept in the dark, you may not know what merits further investigating. And even after the county acknowledged the secrecy deal, it’s still behaving rather secretively.
A runaround provision?
Once in a while, public opposition has stopped property sales, so I wanted to know the dates of the NDA and the introductory meeting but couldn’t get an answer to what seemed like an innocuous question.
I expected to get the NDA within five business days after I filed a right-to-know request. Instead, the Solicitor’s Office said my request would be delayed by as long as a month because it requires a legal review and more time to process.
Hmmm. Datte did say the county would notify Amazon of right-to-know requests that the company could challenge in court.
Commissioners’ Chair Larry Padora told me that if the hyperscale data center required the county’s approval, Datte probably would have advised against signing the NDA. But Kline Township handles its own planning and zoning.
The county planning commission does review proposals for developments in such municipalities. It looked at Amazon’s in May and sent Kline Township a letter with recommendations. I asked for a copy but was told there’ll be a delay in getting that, too.
That seems odd to me, as do other aspects of this project.
Inconsistencies
An Amazon representative told commissioners in June that for 96% of the year, the company could cool its hyperscale data center with outside air instead of massive amounts of water. At a township meeting less than two weeks later, another rep gave a 98% figure.
When asked, one rep said they didn’t know how the company could do that; another said it’s a trade secret. (Amazon itself describes the technology on its website.)
No Amazon info provided after a broad right-to-know request
This past spring, Roseann Weinrich of Butler Township asked the county for just about every record involving data center projects.
Nothing about Amazon’s was in the material she received.
It should have included any and all official business that would determine policies affecting citizens and taxpayers, she said. “Transparency should be a requirement for governing officials. If there is none, it should raise a hundred red flags.”
No Amazon property on the parcel locator
The county parcel locator, a map that’s supposed to provide information about each property, doesn’t show a company called Amazon in Kline Township – even after I brought that up at the Aug. 26 commissioners’ meeting.
I had to click a few times on properties in the approximate location before I learned that a big one listed as belonging to A&A Real Estate Associates LP is instead owned by Amazon Data Services Inc.
A windfall at warp speed
At the courthouse, I quickly found the deed for the Amazon property. Here’s what it says and where it led me.
On May 30, 2025, Amazon acquired 380.2 acres for $178.6 million from CT Projects LLC. An article in the Times News appeared about a month later.
That deed and those referenced in it show CT had bought the land from longtime local owners for $9.1 million in three separate transactions.
The purchases began the previous January, when Butler Enterprises Inc. of Hazleton sold 2.3 acres for $350,000.
And on May 27, CT bought nearly 370 acres from A&A for $1.8 million and about 21 acres from Business Venture Associates of McAdoo for $6.9 million. Three days later, Amazon took ownership of parts of those properties and the former Butler Enterprises one.
CT describes itself on LinkedIn as a project management services firm in Cranberry Township, Butler County.
I left messages requesting information about its relationship to Amazon and the NDA at numbers listed in Director Chad Brinkley’s name, but no one replied. Amazon’s PR department didn’t respond, either.
I can’t explain exactly what all this means, but it’s a bad look for the county as well as Amazon.
Remedies pending in the state Legislature
I’m all for banning data center developers from imposing NDAs on government officials.
Under Pennsylvania House Bill 2359, those companies would have to meet certain transparency measures, including this ban, to receive an industry tax break. The measure’s awaiting action in the Senate after passing the House by 171-31 on June 30. Among Schuylkill County’s four GOP reps, Tim Twardzik and Jamie Barton voted no, and Joanne Stehr and Dane Watro voted yes.
Senate Bill 1408 would prohibit NDAs between data center developers and governments.
GOP Sen. Tracy Pennycuick, the bill’s prime sponsor, told Spotlight PA that she “categorically” would never sign one because “you’re totally bypassing the biggest part of your job.”
Canary note: Opinions expressed in any Op-Ed column appearing on this site are the views of the writer and are not necessarily the opinions of Coal Region Canary.
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