A proposed data center is headed for Union Township in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, and residents say it could ruin the quiet, rural valley they call home. After several community meetings this month, residents learned that a zoning ordinance is the main way the township can have a say in how the project takes shape.

The Union Township Board of Supervisors should adopt a strong data center ordinance without delay. Zoning lets a township cap how tall and how large a building can be and set firm noise limits. Local organizers with Save Trough Creek Valley have pointed to a 40-decibel noise ceiling as one example of the protections a township could require.

Most rural townships in Huntingdon County have never leaned on strict zoning. Residents say that has to change, and fast. Walker Township stands alone as the one municipality in the county with a data center ordinance already in place. Union Township has now joined six other municipalities waiting on review of a pending ordinance.

One township acting alone leaves its neighbors exposed. “This is our fight in that neighborhood, we need support county-wide to help with this fight,” said Jay Zeigler, chairman of the Save Trough Creek Valley Organization, according to WJAC. Every township in Huntingdon County deserves the same chance to protect its farms, forests, and peace and quiet.

Local leaders across the county should move pending ordinances forward quickly and give each community clear, enforceable limits on data center height, size, and noise. Rural Huntingdon County’s future should be shaped by the people who call it home.

Sign the petition to urge Union Township and every Huntingdon County municipality to pass data center protections now, before this project moves ahead.