Indiana County Residents Demand Transparency on Homer City Data Center Project
INDIANA COUNTY, PA (MAY 13, 2026) Yesterday, Indiana County residents rallied before a public hearing on a permit for a 5.8-mile pipeline tied to the proposed Homer City AI data center project. The pipeline would supply gas to a proposed 4.5 gigawatt gas-fired power plant at the site of the former Homer City coal plant.
Residents are concerned that construction could send more sediment into already-stressed waterways, including Muddy Run, Blacklick Creek, nearby streams, and wetlands. They are also worried about trenchless drilling accidents that can release drilling fluid into streams or contaminate well water.
Residents and advocates are also raising concerns about the project’s lack of transparency and the use of public money for private infrastructure. Homer City Redevelopment, LLC received a $5 million grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to design and construct the pipeline.
The project is part of a larger push to build AI data centers in Pennsylvania, many of which would rely on new gas-fired power plants fueled by fracked methane.
Residents and environmental advocates spoke out against the project, warning that it could increase pollution, harm public health, worsen the climate crisis, and raise energy costs.
“Pennsylvania should not be spending public money to lock Indiana County into decades of additional fossil fuel pollution,” said Jay Ting Walker of Clean Air Council. “Residents deserve better. They should not be asked to absorb health risks and environmental damage while corporations benefit.”
“As someone who currently has a farm, I am also very concerned about destruction of streams and wetlands with the ongoing droughts we are now facing in PA,” said Dana Driscoll, Indiana County resident. “My farm is in the watershed that this pipeline will be impacting, I am deeply concerned about water use on this whole project and the fact that it may compromise people’s drinking water, water for agriculture, water for all other life.”
“Our community showed up to say no to more destructive extraction that takes resources from our community to build wealth for other people,” said Concerned Residents of Western PA (CROW). “We do not want to see this pipeline built for a fracked gas power plant and AI data center – all the parts of this project will put our water, air, land, and health at risk. Indiana County deserves better than continuing this legacy of harm.”
