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KRNL Data Centers (New Castle Twp Schuylkill)

New Castle Township, Schuylkill County

A data center project in New Castle Township, Schuylkill County, and the end user has not been named publicly.

ContestedGreenfieldNEPA
At a glance

The project by the numbers

StatusApplication Filed
Site100 acres
First announced2025
Target onlineTBD

Filed and under review in New Castle Township, Schuylkill County

The number that mattersThe site runs to about 100 acres.
Tenant
Not disclosed. No end user has been named publicly.
Current stage
An application is on file and under municipal review.
Decision body
New Castle Township
Top issues
Residents and officials have focused on the conversion of open land or farmland, how little has been disclosed about the end user, water use, continuous mechanical noise, and emissions from backup generation.
Key opponents
Frackville/Walnick Manor residents led by Ryan Twardzik (son of Rep. Tim Twardzik R-123); Victoria Domalakes; Frackville Borough + West Mahanoy Twp (opposition letters)
Key supporters
KRNL; landowner Mount Laurel Enterprises

Plans first reported 2025 (Coal Region Canary); KRNL bought a parcel for $600K; supervisors declared zoning invalid 3-0 Nov 11 2025; packed amendments meeting May 5 2026.

What is at stake

Documented community impacts

Water

High

Opponents say the campus could consume nearly as much potable water annually as all Frackville residences combined; water shared by Frackville, Butler Twp, and Ashland; conservation buffer at risk.

Skook News

Visual and light

High

Several eight-story structures ~850 ft long on a forested conservation hillside that buffers Frackville from I-81.

Skook News

Environmental justice and site legacy

Medium

Save Frackville opposition; New Castle Twp 3-0 declared zoning invalid May 2026.

Community response

Who is organizing against it

Save Frackville

Single-project

Tactics: Township-meeting turnout, zoning-validity advocacy

Opposed KRNL Data Centers (P042); New Castle Twp declared zoning invalid 3-0 (May 2026).

Frackville-area residents (Twardzik-led, vs KRNL)

Cross-border (Frackville vs New Castle Twp) ยท Founded 2025

Leaders: Ryan Twardzik (organizer; son of State Rep. Tim Twardzik R-123); Victoria Domalakes

Tactics: Packed New Castle Twp meetings (overflow crowds), opposition letters from Frackville Borough + West Mahanoy Twp, pressing for 1,000-ft setbacks and keeping the parcel Conservation-zoned

Opposes KRNL's New Castle Twp 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

  • 2025-11-11Supervisors vote 3-0 to declare zoning code portion invalid (begins ~6-month MPC cure) amid Frackville opposition to KRNL Shenandoah Sentinel
  • 2026-05-05Supervisors advance data-center zoning amendments at packed meeting; Frackville residents press for larger setbacks Shenandoah Sentinel
  • 2026-05-08New Castle Twp 3-0 declares zoning invalid
Legal record

Filings and legal actions

  • 2025-11-11
    Municipal cure / MPC challenge New Castle Township · (New Castle Twp)

    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 Twp (re: KRNL interest) · In ~6-month cure; amendments advanced May 2026
News

Coverage of this project

Sources

Know your rights

In Pennsylvania, a data center on industrial land usually needs a special exception or conditional use, decided by a local Zoning Hearing Board after a public, quasi-judicial hearing. Neighbors can request party status, cross-examine witnesses, and build an evidentiary record. Municipalities can also write 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 ask your municipality for a moratorium and a real ordinance.

How communities push back →