SHELBY COUNTY — Dozens of Sidney residents gathered to learn more about data centers on Thursday.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, attendees had questions about water consumption, light pollution, and the potential effects on the farming community.
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Many community members said they didn’t know a data center was going in their town until a recent city council meeting.
As previously reported by News Center 7, the Sidney City Council approved a 30-year, 100% tax abatement to Amazon Data Services for the construction of a data center on the north side of Millcreek Road in October 2025.
The community town hall aimed to clarify how these facilities operate and what their presence means for the local environment.
Brian Kramer, a resident of Sidney, attended the meeting to understand the different perspectives surrounding the project.
“We figured we would come, kind of hear both sides of the argument, both sides of the issue, and just trying to be more informed,” Kramer said.
After the presentation, he noted that the information leaned heavily toward potential risks.
“I didn’t really feel like I learned much on the pros or the benefits of the data center coming in, but a lot of the fears of the data center coming,” Kramer said.
Water usage emerged as a primary concern during the discussion.
Manager of Monitoring and Analysis for the Miami Valley Conservancy District, Mark Ekberg, explained that some data centers can consume up to 300 gallons of water per minute.
Despite these high numbers, Ekberg suggested that proper oversight could mitigate risks to the local water supply.
“We’d hope that, you know, we would have good, suitable water management, that that would, that would prevent that from happening,” Ekberg said.
Residents also questioned the impact on those who rely on well water.
Jordan Hoewischer of the Ohio Farm Bureau stated that while there is currently no issue with local drinking water, precautions should be taken to monitor quality over time.
Hoewischer recommended that residents “start a record of well testing every two months, six months in case something ever does happen.”
Another woman who went to the meeting told News Center 7 that she still had questions.
Kim Heisler said it’s heartbreaking to hear that in some Ohio cities, people feel like their leaders aren’t listening to them.
She specifically questioned the effectiveness of state environmental monitoring of treatment plants.
“And I think if EPA is checking and I don’t really know for sure, but if they’re checking, they’re probably not checking for the right things,” Heisler said.
News Center 7’s Malik Patterson reached out to the Ohio EPA for information on how the agency tests for forever chemicals and if there are methods to prevent them from flowing back into the water supply.
We will continue to follow this story.
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