On March 24, 2026, the South Hanover Township Board of Supervisors will vote on Ordinance No. 1-2026, which would create a Data Center Overlay District rezoning land at the former Pennsy Quarry for large-scale industrial use. This affects every resident in South Hanover, Derry Township, Hummelstown Borough, and the surrounding communities that share our watershed. Read the ordinance here: Ordinance Language. 

Our drinking water comes directly from Swatara Creek, already rated HIGH susceptibility to contamination by the Pennsylvania DEP, serving tens of thousands of residents including patients and staff at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. The karst limestone geology beneath this site is the same geology responsible for the sinkhole that opened on I-83 in Harrisburg on March 12, 2026, just twelve days before this hearing. The Pennsylvania Game Commission’s own Eagle Survey at pgcforms.pa.gov confirms a registered bald eagle nest falls within the proposed overlay boundary itself, with a second registered nest less than a mile away. An active great blue heron rookery sits in the same watershed corridor.

This vote is the result of a process that went from a quiet agenda item on November 25, 2025 to a permanent industrial zoning vote in fewer than 120 days, with no independent karst geological assessment, no hydrological study of Swatara Creek, no eagle habitat survey, and no health impact assessment completed. PPL Electric bills are already rising 10 to 20 percent starting June 2025, driven primarily by data center demand on the PJM grid. Pennsylvania American Water bills have nearly doubled since 2021 with another 16.8 percent increase pending. Data centers accelerate every one of these trends. The ordinance requires no independent utility impact assessment before approval.

The advertised ordinance restored the decommissioning bond and improved noise levels after residents pushed for it. That matters. But the ordinance still contains no financial penalties written into it for operational violations such as noise or water. A bond that activates at closure does not protect residents from damage that occurs while the facility is operating. There is still no karst assessment, no eagle survey, and no independent downstream water impact study. A business that causes damage can leave. Residents cannot.

This is not about stopping development. It is about making sure binding, enforceable protections for our water, our land, our wildlife, and our families are written into the ordinance before any vote is taken, not negotiated after the fact when it is too late.

A formal public comment documenting these concerns in full, with citations to federal law, PA DEP source water assessments, Pennsylvania Game Commission nest data, and peer-reviewed research, is being submitted to the Township for the official record. You can read it here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eO38eqhjnMNGqDN7537J_B0cnXc6UFHx/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=115858875849585662918&rtpof=true&sd=true 

Sign this petition to tell the South Hanover Board of Supervisors: table this vote AND amend the ordinance with real, enforceable protections before any approval is granted. Then show up or send someone to 161 Patriot Way, Hershey on March 24th at 6:00 PM. Your presence matters.

By signing you are adding your voice in support of the formal public comment submitted to the Township for the official record. Your signature here matters and will be presented to the Board. Showing up in person on March 24th and signing the physical document carries the most weight. Both together are stronger than either alone.