The "Stop Dirty Data Centers" campaign is organized on November 6 and 7 in 16 European countries.
On Friday, in front of the Sejm in Warsaw, neighborhood groups, trade unions, environmental organizations and representatives of the Razem party protested against - in their opinion - the uncontrolled development of data centers in Poland. They chanted, among others: "First people, then data" and "Electricity for people, not bots."
We are fighting for water, air, nature, for resources on which the lives of entire communities depend and which are also to serve future generations. (…) We remind politicians who they represent. The deep pockets of lobbyists in the data center sector cannot weigh more than citizens' votes, said Magdalena Potocka, a member of "Stop Serverowni Piaseczno", the organization that initiated the protest.
Moratorium on the construction of data centers
During the event, the Association of Active Neighbors (SAS) collected signatures for an application to the Speaker of the Sejm to introduce a moratorium, i.e. a temporary suspension of the consideration of all applications for permits for the construction and expansion of very large data processing centers, i.e. with the capacity of IT devices above 10 MW.
In the letter, SAS demands, among other things: inventory of existing, constructed and planned data processing centers and their demand for energy and water. Further demands include the adoption of a national policy for the development of the data center sector and the establishment of minimum distances between centers and residential buildings. The association also calls for defining the rules for financing the electricity infrastructure needed by the data center sector, so that the costs are not passed on to residents.
The petition indicated that priority in access to the energy network in a given area should be given to services related to housing, transport and workplaces.
They don't want a server room in Piaseczno
Representatives of "Stop Server Rooms Piaseczno" collected signatures for a petition to the Prime Minister "for urgent state intervention" regarding the data center in Piaseczno (the group brings together residents who are opposed to three investments in the commune; this concerns the data center at ul. Energetyczna in Piaseczno, which is already under construction, and the planned server rooms - at ul. Okulickiego in Piaseczno and in the town of Bobrowiec).
According to them, the investment at ul. Energetyczna in Piaseczno is to include, among others: four multi-story buildings, underground tanks with a total capacity of up to 1,280 cubic meters. diesel fuel. As the protesters said, the investment is located 35 m from a residential building.
An industrial installation with 49 huge power generators and 112 fan coolers is being built, which will generate noise 24 hours a day. In the event of a breakdown or terrorist attack, it is easy to imagine what will happen to fuel tanks 35 m from our homes. (...) We protest against the fact that the commune and the authorities represent the interests of the investor and do not represent the interests of the residents. Nobody took care of our safety. So far, no one cares about them. They send us questions to the investor - said Magdalena Potocka from "Stop serverownia Piaseczno" in an interview with PAP.
Water problems
She emphasized that in Piaseczno there have been problems with water pressure in taps for several years, especially in summer.
The city authorities appealed to residents not to water their gardens. There is a hydrological drought, water problems occur everywhere, and PWiK, the local water supplier, has issued conditions for 286 cubic meters of water intake per day for the data center. This is comparable to a housing estate of about two or three thousand inhabitants, Potocka said.
The investor denies the allegations
The investor of the data processing center at Energetyczna Street in Piaseczno is Sien Real, a company from the Budimex Group. In a statement of September 9 this year. posted on the commune's website, the company indicated that the investment "does not have the character of a large-scale project comparable to those known from, for example, the American market" and is fully subject to Polish and EU environmental standards and other regulations. "On the border of the plot, all applicable noise standards for this type of investment and this location will be met," it was indicated.
The investor also stated that during daily operation of the facility, the water demand will not exceed a maximum of 55 cubic meters. per day, and the water will be used primarily by employees operating the facility. "The value of 286 cubic meters per day, repeated in the discussion, is a one-time filling of fire protection tanks, which will only take place after the completion of the construction of subsequent stages of the investment," the company said.
"These data centers are destroying our world"
The "Stop Dirty Data Centers" campaign covered many cities across Europe. The events in Amsterdam were the loudest in the media. There, about a hundred protesters broke into the construction site of a Microsoft data center. Some climbed the cranes, hanging the balloon, others only carried banners. “Fuck your data center,” one of them read.
These data centers are destroying our world. It becomes uninhabitable because of all the resources it consumes. That's why we are here today, said Sam van der Beek, one of the protest participants in the Dutch capital.
The owner of the facility, Pure Data Centers, which plans to invest over USD 1 billion, stated that it is determined to cooperate with local stakeholders, Reuters reported.
“We kindly ask everyone present at the site to safely leave the area and engage in a dialogue with us about the ongoing activities and any concerns they may have,” the company said in a statement, adding that it understands that people may have emotional reactions to their project and respects their right to peacefully express their views, but does not tolerate any illegal actions.
Protests around the world
Reuters points out that opposition to data centers and the uncontrolled development of artificial intelligence is growing from Spain through India to the USA.
In the United States, technology stocks fell sharply on Thursday on fears that Democratic control of Congress could mean tougher regulations to curb the artificial intelligence boom.
