Mason County residents raise concerns over new data center near Point Pleasant

MASON COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) - Mason County residents packed a special commission meeting for more than two hours Tuesday, raising concerns and pressing county commissioners for answers about a data center being built just north of Point Pleasant.

One of the central concerns raised at the meeting was whether the Monarch Compute Campus qualifies as a registered “high impact data center” under West Virginia House Bill 2014.

The law restricts what local governments can do when regulating high impact data centers, including noise and light ordinances and local zoning. The station has reached out to the data center’s company, Nscale, for a statement regarding the classification of the site and is awaiting a response.

A portion of the meeting focused on health concerns and questions about water usage. Those concerns were also submitted to Nscale, and a response is pending.

County Commission President Rick Handley said the community is not paying for the water used at the site. He said one hydrant is being used, and the construction company is paying the bill.

When asked whether more data centers were coming to Mason County, Handley said commissioners have heard of people selling privately owned land, raising questions about what future development could look like in the area.

Elaine Matheny, who attended the meeting and is a member of the Mason County United group, said she was pleased with the commissioners’ transparency but said residents want more active involvement from their elected officials.

“Mostly, I think the overall issue that I think the people were able to get across to the commissioners is that we want them to get more involved with the company,” Matheny said. “To ask questions, to oversee, not just sit back and say, OK, they’re here now, they’re a part of our community, they’ll do the right thing. Because we don’t think that the company is always going to do the right thing.”

Previous coverage here.