South Strabane Township, Washington County
CNX Resources is marketing land off Zediker Station Road in South Strabane Township as a data center site with on-site gas power. There's no buyer or application yet, but the township has already adopted a data center ordinance with a 1,500-foot setback from homes.
JLL announced on October 20, 2025 that it was marketing CNX's Zediker Station property as a data center site, and Supervisor Jeff Bull called it speculation because the township had heard nothing. The Center for Coalfield Justice held a community meeting on the proposal December 4, 2025, and residents filled the supervisors' December 16 meeting, where the solicitor said a public hearing on a data center ordinance would follow. The Allegheny Conference released its economic impact estimate March 3, 2026. After tabling the ordinance more than once, the planning commission recommended it March 19, the same day CNX attorney Blaine Lucas sent a letter calling parts of it illegal, and supervisors held a three-hour public hearing March 31. Supervisors unanimously adopted the data center and noise ordinances June 9, 2026 with a 1,500-foot setback. The companion fossil fuel power generation ordinance was tabled in late July and again August 25, 2026.
Update, October 26, 2026. On September 22, 2026 the South Strabane supervisors declined to act on the proposed fossil fuel power generation ordinance, the last of three ordinances aimed at data center development, after tabling it at their July and August meetings. The Observer-Reporter didn't report a reason or a new vote date.
JLL markets the site with enough nearby natural gas to support 500 to 700 MW of on-site generation, blended with captured coal mine methane. The township is still writing a separate ordinance to govern fossil fuel generators at data center sites.
JLLThe Allegheny Conference estimates a hypothetical 400 MW data center here would support 2,364 full-time-equivalent jobs, including 1,686 construction jobs, and $67.5 million in tax revenue, including $4.3 million for Washington County. Township Solicitor Dennis Makel told the March 31 hearing that a finished data center has "about 10 jobs."
Allegheny Conference on Community DevelopmentJLL's brochure advertises access to 525,000 gallons of water a day, according to the Observer-Reporter, and the township's draft rules asked local water and electric providers to confirm they could meet a data center's demand.
Observer-ReporterResidents cited data center noise levels of 75 to 96 decibels at a December 2025 meeting, while JLL's Dan Adamski said noise would be undetectable at the property line. The township adopted a separate noise and dust ordinance in June 2026.
Observer-ReporterAt the March 31, 2026 hearing, residents warned that property values near the site could fall, and one asked for setbacks matching the township's 1,500-foot rule for gas well pads.
Observer-ReporterLeaders: Sarah Martik, executive director
Tactics: Community meetings, including a December 4, 2025 meeting on the Zediker proposal with about 70 residents; a Data Center Lobby Day in Harrisburg; blog posts and press statements
CCJ hasn't run a Zediker-specific campaign page that we found. Martik has questioned the jobs claims, saying many permanent positions are maintenance, janitorial or security work.
CNX's attorneys wrote that draft setbacks would "eliminate most portions of CNX's Zediker Station property from development" and that requiring separate payments for public safety "is illegal," and Junker called the draft exclusionary. An earlier letter said a draft would "effectively ban data centers in the Township."
CNX Resources (attorneys Blaine Lucas and Robert Max Junker, Babst Calland); South Strabane Township · The ordinance was adopted June 9, 2026 with a 1,500-foot setback. No court challenge has been reported.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 →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 →