Construction on a planned 1.5 million-square-foot data center in East Whiteland Township — being built by Green Fig LLC and Sentinel Data Centers atop the former Cyprus Foote Mineral Co. site — has been halted by a township stop-work order after residents raised alarms over building on a federal Superfund site. The site has been contaminated since the 1940s with lithium, arsenic, hexavalent chromium, and other pollutants. While the EPA says the site remains on its National Priorities List with an ongoing groundwater contamination plume and elevated volatile organic compounds, it has also stated it doesn't expect the project to disrupt its cleanup remedy, leaving residents — who cite dust from construction, a nearby daycare facility, and unclear soil-testing protocols — at odds with developers and township officials who maintain the site is safe. The project has also been mired in repeated plan revisions: developers first sought to expand the footprint, then to shrink it, and most recently requested a "field change" to swap water-cooling systems for air-chilled units, a request that drew accusations from residents that it amounted to a substantial redesign being pushed through without full board review. As of early July, the township's supervisors tabled a decision on the amended plans pending more information, leaving the project's future — and the community's safety concerns — unresolved.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer; 7/9/2026 & 7/27/2026