PA Environment Digest Blog: Guest Essay: Lessons from A.I. Data Centers And Shale Gas Fracking Tours

By Scott Cannon, Luzerne County

A recent article about the Scranton Chamber of Commerce sponsoring a trip to the famed “Data Center Alley” in Loudoun County, Virginia brought back vivid memories of a similar journey I documented some 14 years ago.

That trip, guided by the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition, was a tour of “Gasland” in Wyoming, Susquehanna, and Bradford Counties.

The goal was to provide local officials with a firsthand look at the environmental consequences of fracking-- a mission that uncannily mirrors the recent expedition to see the effects of A.I. data centers on communities.

At that time, the scope of fresh water well contamination from fracking operations was largely unknown, until a determined reporter from the Scranton Times Tribune sued the Department of Environmental Protection to prompt real record-keeping.

Initially, reports showed at least 243 water contaminations since 2007; today, that number has nearly doubled to 444, according to the DEP's own data.

The Fracking/AI Connection

What ties these stories together? The emerging A.I. data center industry now claims it will source a significant portion of its power from gas-generated electricity.

The logic is clear: more gas-generated power requires more fracking, which results in increased water pollution, methane emissions (a greenhouse gas more potent than CO2 in the short term), and a proliferation of pipelines.

While there is financial gain for some, the environmental and health costs are stark.

Numerous studies show that communities near fracking sites face elevated risks of respiratory illnesses (such as asthma), adverse birth outcomes (including low birth weight and preterm births), and higher incidences of certain childhood cancers like lymphoma and leukemia.

These problems trace directly to air and water contamination stemming from drilling practices and waste disposal.

For those MAGA’s out there, before RFK Jr. became Trump’s Health Czar, he took a trip to Dimock PA and made his own determination.

RFK’s Friggin Fracking Façade

Back in 2024, the now Health and Human Services Director, while he was running for President, visited Dimock, Pennsylvania [Susquehanna County], to see if the gas extraction process known as “fracking” was harmful to the health of Pennsylvanians.

His conclusion is in the name of the title of the campaign video he put out on YouTube-- Fracking is making Pennsylvania Sick...Again.

This may not be a direct Luzerne County problem (although the gas pipelines are), but it holds a special place in my heart.

I started travelling to Dimock to see for myself what all the commotion was about 15 years ago. After all, it’s only an hour’s drive north from Wilkes-Barre.

I interviewed and made mini-documentaries about some of the same people in RFK’s video. I became friends with them and am still in contact with them today.

One of my videos of a woman from Bradford County lighting her tap on fire even went viral.

Since taking office for his second term on January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump has continued to push policies aimed at increasing domestic fossil fuel production, and deregulating fracking.

On his first day in office, President Trump signed executive orders declaring a national energy emergency and aiming to remove regulatory barriers to boost U.S. oil and gas production and exports.

Drill, Baby, Drill has been his mantra, as RFK Jr. sits silent.

The last known record of RFK Jr. commenting on fracking was this: April 22, 2024 (E&E/Politico interview): Kennedy explicitly said he “won’t consider a fracking ban”.

He argued that natural gas is “cheap energy that puts us at a global competitive advantage,” and warned it “does no good for the American people to ship it abroad” but nothing about fixing the health and water issues fracking causes.

It's sad to see an environmental lawyer once respected in the environmental community fall from grace.

Many people, including my friends, thought he would be the savior to their drinking water and health problems for the past 2 decades.

He turned out to be another feckless rube who will bend to an immoral, foolish leader just to keep their jobs and power, but that’s the America we are living in now.

Dimock’s drinking water will still have undisclosed proprietary fracking chemicals in it, but at least their Skittles won’t have Red Dye #2!

Money for some is the price we pay for Data Centers and fracking, and it really is up to us to keep them or vote for alternatives.

Scott Cannon is a videographer living in Luzerne County.

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Dec. 20 to 26 - 378,000 Gallon Gasoline Spill; 521,600 Gallon Spilled Into Mine Voids; Crude Oil Pipeline Rupture [PaEN]

-- DEP: MarkWest Liberty Midstream Shale Gas Pipeline Drilling Fluid Losses To Mine Voids Climb To Over 521,600 Gallons In Washington County [PaEN]

-- DEP Orders Monroe Energy's MIPC, LLC To Provide Replacement Water To Residents In Delaware County Potentially Impacted By A 378,000 Gallon Gasoline Leak Reported From The Chelsea Pipeline Station And Tank Farm [PaEN]

-- Warren Times: US Forest Service Conducting Federal Superfund Pollution Assessment Of Abandoned American Refining Group Oil & Gas Facilities In Allegheny National Forest [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - December 27 [PaEN]

-- DEP To Host Jan. 6 Public Information Meeting On Water Quality Permits For The A.I. Data Center Proposal In Archbald Boro, Lackawanna County [Some Of The 84 Data Center Buildings Proposed In NE PA] [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On Chapter 105 Permit For Daylighting 3 CNX Midstream Natural Gas Pipelines To Prevent Damage From Longwall Coal Mining In Washington County [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On Eastern Gas Transmission & Storage Water Quality Permits For 13.1 Mile Natural Gas Pipeline Replacement Project In Armstrong, Westmoreland Counties [PaEN]