Environmental justice and site legacy
HighSix data center campuses proposed by five developers would cover roughly 14 percent of Archbald Borough and displace an existing trailer park, according to reporting by Spotlight PA.
Spotlight PA
All Pennsylvania projects
Speculative
Project North (Archbald)
Archbald Borough, Lackawanna County
A data center project in Archbald Borough, Lackawanna County, and the end user has not been named publicly.
SpeculativeBrownfield/mine-spoilNEPA
At a glance
The project by the numbers
StatusSpeculative / Exploratory
First announced2025
Target onlineTBD
Early stage interest in Archbald Borough, Lackawanna County
- Tenant
- Not disclosed. No end user has been named publicly.
- Current stage
- Nothing formal has been filed. What is known so far comes from land assembly, utility inquiries or sketch plans rather than an application.
- Decision body
- Archbald Borough
- Top issues
- Residents and officials have focused on what remains in the ground from the site's industrial past, how little has been disclosed about the end user, water use, continuous mechanical noise, and emissions from backup generation.
Developer undisclosed. One of three additional Archbald campuses bordering Project Gravity. Part of 6-campus Archbald cluster.
What is at stake
Documented community impacts
Energy costs and the grid
HighLackawanna County has drawn at least a dozen data center proposals since 2024, and County Commissioner Bill Gaughan has written to the Governor and legislative leaders asking for a three year statewide moratorium.
Spotlight PATimeline
How it has unfolded
- 2025-11-24Council votes 5 to 2 to create a Data Center Overlay District. The borough manager told residents a single data center could cover more than 60 percent of the borough budget, and the overflow crowd reacted with anger, accusing council of having decided in advance Resilience / CASSE
- 2026-03-27Council votes 5 to 0 against the conditional use application for Archbald I LLC and Project Scott, after three council members including the council president resigned amid mounting pressure Resilience / CASSE
- 2026-05-14About 400 residents attend the public meeting on the Wildcat Ridge campus, one of six data center campuses proposed in the borough by five developers, together covering roughly 14 percent of Archbald Scranton Times-Tribune
News
Coverage of this project
- 2026-03-28 Spotlight PAArchbald, PA, fights data centers in AI development rushSix campuses across 14 percent of the borough, and the land deals behind them
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 →