VINELAND — Over 100 people attended a rally at the Albert V. Giampietro Memorial Park in Vineland to oppose French company DataOne’s Vineland data center on Saturday, March 21.
The rally, cohosted by Congressional candidate Bayly Winder, Sustain South Jersey (Sustain SJ), and Climate Revolution Action Network (CRAN) with Big Body Kito deejaying, aimed to gather community members and to demand more accountability from the project’s leaders and city government.
Residents, activists, and people from across South Jersey attended, bringing signs and listening to Winder and other speakers.
“This is a fight we’ve seen a million times before in these United States of America. Community voices versus corporate power,” Winder said. “It comes down to one simple question: Who decides what happens in Vineland? The people who live here, or the executives sitting thousands of miles away?”
Many residents have felt that DataOne has not been transparent enough about its plans for sustainability and cooperation with the community. The Cumberland County health department stated it would investigate noise coming from the area after residents complained, and a viral video of humming by Scott Montgomery drove wide media attention to the issue.
“It seems like everybody else is using it as a platform,” Montgomery said. “This is a continued noise, and it’s very frustrating. And at night it’s worse because you don’t have no ambient background noise or on the weekends or something.”
The rally comes ahead of a planning board meeting where a vote to approve a new site plan is on the table, including liquid natural gas storage which activists warn risks fires, explosions and gas leaks.