Starpointe data center may need further study on nearby gas wells
Developers of a proposed 350-450 megawatt data center campus and attached power generation facility may require further investigation following a lengthy discussion about the status of abandoned gas wells that could impact the project site.
Attorneys representing several groups of concerned Hanover Township residents cross-examined a geotechnical engineer hired by Dallas, Texas-based developer Prime Data Centers LLC during a lengthy conditional use permit hearing on Tuesday night.
Gateway Engineers Professional Geologist John Malizia, who was hired by Prime to assess the subsurface conditions of the approximately 120-acre site, explained the investigation conducted by his team.
Malizia’s team reviewed a geotechnical report completed in 2016 by Butler County engineering firm Larson Design Group for the Washington County Council on Economic Development, who originally developed the former strip mining site into the current business park before selling the park to ALTIAN Development LLC in late 2024.
The Larson report was updated in 2020 to include revised slope stability assessments at the request of the economic development council, Malizia said.
Malizia said that per his review of the Larson report; interviews with previous land owners; conversations with Department of Environmental Protection’s staff; and physical survey of the site, he determined that there is one former gas well near the site that was capped previously.
Attorneys representing residents allege that there are up to 12 former gas wells on the project site, based on separate conversations with DEP representatives.
Malizia testified that he has reviewed the attorney’s claim, but said the majority of those 12 wells “never existed,” or were permits issued for well projects that were never actually drilled.
He said that the DEP data reviewed by the attorneys was primarily drawn from 1930s-era Works Progress Administration maps that contained several inaccuracies.
Government records were less rigorous during the pre-permit era, he said.
The attorneys said that strip mining operations on site in the mid-20th century could have obscured surface-level evidence of former wells, but the subsurface remnants could remain.
These former wells could leak combustible gas and other chemicals onto the site, which could impact the overall safety of the data center project, they said.
A review of DEP eMapPA data for the site shows several listed conventional gas and oil wells around Starpointe Business Park, although this data may be inaccurate or out of date.
DEP eMapPA data draws from a variety of sources, including both contemporary surveys by qualified geologists and historic maps that can be over 100 years old.
Malizia said that Gateway is conducting an ongoing, thorough investigation of the entire site that will be published in a formal report during the land development phase of the project.
He reassured the Hanover Township Board of Supervisors that he did not have any concerns with future development on this site based on his ongoing review.