Water
HighOpponents say the campus could consume nearly as much potable water annually as all Frackville residences combined; water shared by Frackville, Butler Township, and Ashland; conservation buffer at risk.
Skook News
All Pennsylvania projects
Contested
KRNL Data Centers (New Castle Township, Schuylkill County)
New Castle Township, Schuylkill County
New York-based KRNL Data Centers bought a wooded parcel on the New Castle Township side of Frackville's border for a multi-building campus, but no formal application has been filed and the township has since rewritten its zoning to make data centers a conditional use.
ContestedTBD/UndisclosedGreenfieldNEPA
At a glance
The project by the numbers
StatusProposed
Site89 acres
First announced2025-09
Target onlineTBD
Frackville neighbors fight a data center pitched for a wooded ridge in New Castle Township
The number that mattersThe new data center zone is about 3.5 miles from the nearest New Castle Township home but backs right up to Frackville and Butler Township backyards, according to the Shenandoah Sentinel.
- Developer
- KRNL Data Centers of New York City, which says it's backed by private equity partners Heights Advisors and Legacy Partners. It bought the parcel, previously owned by Mount Laurel Enterprises, for $600,000, according to the Shenandoah Sentinel.
- Tenant
- No end user has been named, and KRNL describes itself as a firm that finds and prepares development-ready properties for data center construction.
- Current stage
- No application is on file, though New Castle Township declared part of its zoning invalid in November 2025 to start a curative process, and on May 5, 2026 supervisors approved amendments creating a Highway Industrial district along Interstate 81 where data centers need conditional use approval. Coal Region Canary described the project as in limbo in August 2026.
- Decision body
- New Castle Township Board of Supervisors, which would hold a conditional use hearing on any data center application in the new Highway Industrial district.
- Top issues
- The campus would replace a mature forest that is visible from almost everywhere in Frackville, while the tax revenue would go to New Castle Township and the Saint Clair Area School District. Residents also raise the water supply shared by Frackville, Butler Township and Ashland, power demand, noise, light, and an access road through Walnick Manor or off Votech Road.
- Key opponents
- Frackville and Walnick Manor residents organized as Save Frackville, with Ryan Twardzik as spokesman; Frackville Borough Council, which voted unanimously to oppose the project; West Mahanoy Township, which sent an opposition letter; and State Rep. Tim Twardzik (R-123), who called it the wrong project in the wrong place.
- Key supporters
- KRNL Data Centers is the only backer on record. We found no public official supporting this site, and township officials said the new rules were needed so a data center couldn't come in with no restrictions.
How we got here
Township officials said talks with KRNL had gone quiet after May 2025. Residents packed a September 9, 2025 New Castle supervisors meeting with 81 opposition letters, Frackville Borough Council voted that week to oppose the project, and about 30 residents asked West Mahanoy Township for an opposition letter on September 16, 2025. Supervisors voted 3-0 on November 11, 2025 to declare part of the zoning code invalid and start a curative period of about six months. On May 5, 2026 they approved zoning amendments 2-0, with one abstention, creating a Highway Industrial district along Interstate 81 with 200-foot setbacks after residents asked for 1,000 feet.
What is at stake
Impacts raised and open questions
Visual and light
HighSeveral eight-story structures about 850 ft long on a forested conservation hillside that buffers Frackville from I-81.
Skook NewsVisual and light
HighThe ridge is a mature forest visible from almost every point in Frackville, including the Altamont and Cresmont areas of West Mahanoy Township, and residents say large industrial buildings would dwarf everything around them.
Shenandoah SentinelEnvironmental justice and site legacy
MediumSave Frackville opposition; New Castle Township declared part of its zoning invalid 3-0 in November 2025.
Property values
MediumResidents say the campus would hurt nearby property values while its tax revenue would go to New Castle Township and the Saint Clair Area School District, with none staying in Frackville.
Shenandoah SentinelTraffic
MediumAccess to the campus would likely have to come from Laurel Street in Walnick Manor or from Votech Road in West Mahanoy Township, according to the opposition spokesman.
Shenandoah SentinelNoise and vibration
MediumResidents raised noise and light pollution from a campus that would include several buildings and an additional substation next to Walnick Manor homes.
Shenandoah SentinelCommunity response
Who is organizing against it
Save Frackville
Tactics: Township-meeting turnout, zoning-validity advocacy
Opposed KRNL Data Centers (P042); New Castle Township declared part of its zoning invalid 3-0 in November 2025.
Frackville-area residents (Twardzik-led, vs KRNL)
Leaders: Ryan Twardzik (organizer; son of State Rep. Tim Twardzik R-123)
Tactics: Packed New Castle Township meetings (overflow crowds), opposition letters from Frackville Borough and West Mahanoy Township, pressing for 1,000-ft setbacks and keeping the parcel Conservation-zoned
Opposes KRNL's New Castle Township campus (P042). Notable because the impacts fall on neighboring Frackville/Walnick Manor, which can't vote in New Castle. Allied with State Rep. Tim Twardzik.
Timeline
How it has unfolded
- 2025-09-09Nearly 40 residents, mostly from Frackville, deliver 81 opposition letters, and township officials say they have no completed application from KRNL. Coal Region Canary
- 2025-09-13Coal Region Canary reports Frackville council voted unanimously that week to send New Castle a letter opposing the data center. Coal Region Canary
- 2025-09-16About 30 residents ask West Mahanoy for an opposition letter, warning that an access road could run off Votech Road. Shenandoah Sentinel
- 2025-11-11Supervisors vote 3-0 to declare zoning code portion invalid (begins about 6-month MPC cure) amid Frackville opposition to KRNL Shenandoah Sentinel
- 2026-05-05Supervisors approve data center zoning amendments 2-0, with one abstention, at a packed meeting; Frackville residents press for larger setbacks Shenandoah Sentinel
- 2026-08-27Coal Region Canary reports the New Castle Township data center remains in limbo while Amazon and Nebius projects advance elsewhere in the county. Coal Region Canary
- 2026-09-15Neighboring West Mahanoy unanimously adopts a 180-day curative pause on data centers and solar farms while it writes rules. Shenandoah Sentinel
Legal record
Filings and legal actions
-
2025-11-11
Municipal cure / MPC challenge
Supervisors declared a portion of the zoning code invalid 3-0, triggering an MPC curative period to rewrite data-center rules before any KRNL application could proceed.
New Castle Township (re: KRNL interest) · Amendments approved 2-0, with one abstention, on May 5, 2026 -
2026-05-05
Zoning amendment
Creates a Highway Industrial district along Interstate 81 near Frackville, on land formerly zoned Conservation, where data centers are a conditional use, with 200-foot setbacks and rules on woodland disturbance, lighting, sewer, emergency response and required studies.
New Castle Township · Approved 2-0, one abstention
News
Coverage of this project
- 2026-09-15 Shenandoah SentinelWest Mahanoy invokes six month moratorium on data centers, solar farms, mulls regulationsneighbor's pause
- 2026-08-27 Coal Region CanarySchuylkill Commissioners Defend Decision to Sign NDAs Over Amazon Data Centerproject in limbo
- 2026-05-06 Shenandoah SentinelNew Castle approves data center zoning amendments as Frackville residents rallyTwardzik-led opposition / setback fight
- 2025-11-12 WNEP Action 16A data center developer eyed one Schuylkill County township; a neighboring town's residents fought back3-0 zoning invalidation / KRNL backers
- 2025-09-18 Skook NewsSchuylkill County Residents Push Back Against Proposed Data Center Developmentpetition drive
- 2025-09-17 Shenandoah SentinelDozens voice opposition to New Castle data center at West Mahanoy meetingWest Mahanoy meeting
- 2025-09-13 Coal Region CanaryFrackville Opposes Proposed Data Center on Its Borderborough opposition
- 2025-09-11 Coal Region CanaryData Center Debate Hits Schuylkill Countyfirst township meeting
Sources
- Data Center Debate Hits Schuylkill County
- Frackville Opposes Proposed Data Center on Its Border
- Dozens voice opposition to New Castle data center at West Mahanoy meeting
- New Castle approves data center zoning amendments as Frackville residents rally
- Schuylkill Commissioners Defend Decision to Sign NDAs Over Amazon Data Center
- West Mahanoy invokes six month moratorium on data centers, solar farms, mulls regulations
- Schuylkill County residents push back against proposed data center development
Know your rights
In Pennsylvania, the local zoning ordinance sets the route. A conditional use is decided by the elected governing body (supervisors, commissioners or council). A special exception or variance, and an appeal of a zoning officer’s decision, go to the Zoning Hearing Board. Each is a public hearing on a record: affected neighbors can ask for party status, cross-examine witnesses, and appeal. Municipalities can also adopt data center ordinances with enforceable standards.
Know your rights →Take action
Organized community opposition is the single most effective check on these projects in Pennsylvania. Show up to hearings, submit comment when it is taken, support legal and expert-witness costs, and press your municipality for a real ordinance. Pennsylvania municipalities cannot simply freeze applications, but a curative amendment under the Planning Code gives them a defined window to fix a defective ordinance.
How communities push back →