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Contested

Starpointe Data Center (Prime Data Centers)

Hanover Township, Washington County

Prime Data Centers wants about 1.8 million square feet of data centers and a 350 to 450 megawatt gas plant at Starpointe Business Park. The supervisors deciding the case took a developer-paid trip to Chicago while the application was pending.

ContestedLargeGreenfield GasBrownfieldSW
At a glance

The project by the numbers

StatusUnder Review
Capacity450 MW
Building area1,800,000 sq ft
Site120 acres
Permanent jobs, as claimed60
First announced2026-05

Prime's seven-building Starpointe campus and gas plant face marathon hearings and questions over a paid trip for supervisors

The number that mattersPrime's project lead testified the company paid for airline tickets and lunch so at least two of Hanover Township's three supervisors could tour its Chicago-area data center campus on July 2, 2026, about two months after Prime filed the application they're now deciding.
Developer
Prime Data Centers LLC of Dallas, Texas (project lead Kate Nolan Bryden, senior vice president of development), with power plant partner Generate Capital of San Francisco. Landowner is ALTIAN Development LLC, tied to Alex E. Paris Contracting of Atlasburg.
Tenant
No end user named in coverage. Prime would build and operate the campus.
Current stage
The conditional use hearing before the Hanover Township Board of Supervisors has run through sessions on August 5, August 31, September 21, September 29 and October 7, 2026, and remains open. The township's website now lists three more Prime Data Centers conditional use hearing sessions, on October 28, November 10 and November 11, 2026. DEP lists the project as Under Review with an air quality permit for the power plant pending.
Decision body
Hanover Township Board of Supervisors (two conditional use applications), with an air quality permit from the Pennsylvania DEP. Residents' attorneys have argued the zoning hearing board should rule first.
Top issues
Gas power plant air emissions; noise and vibration; light pollution; old gas wells under a former strip mine; developer-paid trip for the supervisors deciding the case; whether supervisors or the zoning hearing board has jurisdiction
Key opponents
Center for Coalfield Justice (requested party status on behalf of members who live near the site); attorneys for nearby residents, including the firm Smith Butz; about three dozen residents granted party standing.
Key supporters
ALTIAN Development LLC and Alex E. Paris Contracting, whose vice president Emanuel Paris cited local construction jobs; Prime asked Alex Paris Contracting workers to help fill the hearing with supporters, according to a letter obtained by WPXI.

How we got here

Starpointe opened in October 2004 as Washington County's largest industrial park, and after an $11.193 million judgment against the county economic development council, almost 900 acres were sold to ALTIAN Development LLC in late 2024. Hanover Township adopted a data center ordinance in March 2026, and Prime filed its conditional use applications in May 2026. The township posted an agenda for a June 18, 2026 conditional use session to discuss Prime's applications, and it rescheduled the July hearing because of a public notice problem. On July 2, Prime flew supervisors to its Elk Grove Village campus. The Aug. 5 hearing drew more than 200 people and ended after party status requests and jurisdiction objections, and it was continued to Aug. 31, when Bryden presented the project. An engineer described the power plant on Sept. 21, a geologist was cross-examined about old gas wells on Sept. 29, and on Oct. 7 Bryden testified about the paid trip.

Update, October 26, 2026. By October 26, 2026, Hanover Township had posted three more Prime Data Centers conditional use hearing dates on its website: October 28, November 10 and November 11, 2026, each at 6 p.m. at the Hanover Volunteer Fire Department.

What is at stake

Impacts raised and open questions

Air quality

High

A 350 to 450 megawatt natural gas power plant using 105 Jenbacher J620 engines would run on site, connected by lateral to the Rover Pipeline. DEP is reviewing an air quality permit for it.

Observer-Reporter

Noise and vibration

Medium

The engines would sit in sound-dampening packages rated for 65 decibels at 30 feet inside a building with more sound attenuation, according to the design engineer. Residents raised noise, vibration and light pollution at every hearing.

Observer-Reporter

Public safety

Medium

Residents' attorneys say DEP records show up to 12 old gas wells on the former strip mine site that could leak combustible gas. Prime's geologist says most of those wells never existed and found one capped well near the site, and a full report will come at the land development stage.

Observer-Reporter

Jobs and tax claims

Medium

Bryden says each of the seven buildings would create at least 300 temporary construction jobs, with 40 to 60 permanent jobs once the campus is fully running.

Observer-Reporter

Water

Low

Prime says the campus would use a closed-loop cooling system that recycles water to minimize on-site consumption. No water volume has been reported.

Observer-Reporter
Community response

Who is organizing against it

Center for Coalfield Justice

Southwestern Pennsylvania (Washington and Greene counties)

Tactics: Requested party status through its attorney so it can cross-examine witnesses and appeal, citing members who live near the site.

No local resident group with a public website, petition or fundraiser was found for this project as of Oct. 18, 2026.

Website

Timeline

How it has unfolded

  • 2024-09-18Commissioners put the sale of Starpointe's undeveloped land from the county economic development council to ALTIAN Development LLC on their agenda. Observer-Reporter
  • 2026-03The township adopted an ordinance regulating data center development, before Prime's application arrived. Observer-Reporter
  • 2026-05Prime submitted conditional use applications for a seven-building data center campus and attached power plant. Observer-Reporter
  • 2026-06-18A conditional use session agenda listed discussion of Prime Data Centers' conditional use applications. Hanover Township
  • 2026-07-02Prime paid for flights and lunch for at least two supervisors to tour its Elk Grove Village, Illinois campus, according to later testimony. Observer-Reporter
  • 2026-08-05The first conditional use hearing drew more than 200 people, heard party status requests and jurisdiction objections, and was continued to Aug. 31. Observer-Reporter
  • 2026-08-31Project lead Kate Nolan Bryden presented the 1.8 million-square-foot campus and 350-megawatt plant, and four more hearings were scheduled for September. Observer-Reporter
  • 2026-09-15Residents ask the planning commission about its past review of Prime's applications and how the data center ordinance was drafted. Hanover Township
  • 2026-09-21An engineer testified the power plant would use 105 Jenbacher J620 gas engines and a battery system for the campus microgrid. Observer-Reporter
  • 2026-09-29Residents' attorneys cross-examined Prime's geologist over claims of up to 12 old gas wells on the site. Observer-Reporter
  • 2026-10-07Bryden testified that Prime paid for the supervisors' July trip to Chicago. Observer-Reporter
Legal record

Filings and legal actions

  • 2026-08-05
    Objections and party status requests in the conditional use hearing Hanover Township Board of Supervisors · n/a

    Attorneys argued the application was incomplete because it lacked a decommissioning plan, that the zoning hearing board must first decide what use a data center most resembles, and that the supervisors lacked jurisdiction over the power plant application. About three dozen people were granted party standing.

    Attorneys for nearby residents and the Center for Coalfield Justice; Prime Data Centers LLC and ALTIAN Development LLC · Hearing proceeded on Aug. 31; no ruling on the jurisdiction objection reported. Parties with standing keep the right to appeal the supervisors' decision.
News

Coverage of this project

Sources

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 →