Proposed data center near Nashville Zoo sparks heavy pushback

Nashville, Tennessee — Residents packed a metropolis nationalist proceeding successful Nashville, Tennessee, connected Thursday night, looking to halt a astir 70,000-square-foot data center from being built adjacent the Nashville Zoo, arguing it would exposure the animals to noise, fumes and agleam lights.

The information halfway would run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, close adjacent to a zoo that is location to much than 3,000 carnal species, including the endangered clouded leopard. 

Country euphony prima and Nashville nonmigratory Brad Paisley added his dependable to the sermon this week, urging his followers connected societal media to backmost an online petition against the task that present has astir 400,000 signatures. 

"It is not excessively precocious to halt it," Paisley said successful a social media video. 

Nashville's Metro Planning Commission held a nationalist proceeding Thursday regarding projected authorities that would prohibition the operation of ample information centers wrong a fractional mile of daycare centers, homes, spiritual institutions, parks and zoos. 

"We person to protect, not conscionable animals, but our neighbors, our h2o supply," 1 Nashville nonmigratory said during the hearing.   

"What's astatine stake? I deliberation the wellness of our animals, and that is our biggest concern," Rich Schwartz, CEO of the Nashville Zoo, told CBS News. "This changeless humming noise, the airy penetration, it affects photograph periods of these animals, it affects their breeding cycles, it affects their stress."

Photo periods notation to however the magnitude of daylight impacts an animal's situation and physiology. 

The institution down the information center, DC BLOX, says it is committed to addressing immoderate issues.

"There is simply a tremendous magnitude of misinformation," Chris Gatch, main gross serviceman for DC BLOX, told CBS News. "... With respect to the generators, we enactment them connected the other broadside of the gathering from the zoo. We enactment them successful precise blase dependable attenuation enclosures. We muffle the exhaust systems."

An detonation of artificial quality data centers crossed the state has created pushback from seashore to coast. There are astatine slightest 4,349 information centers successful cognition nationwide, according to Data Center Map, a probe radical that analyzes the issue. So far, 14 states person projected authorities banning the improvement of information centers, per the National Conference of State Legislatures.

"We would beryllium consenting to listen, and our attorneys person reached retired to them," Schwartz said. "But I don't cognize that there's immoderate solution for the magnitude of what they're talking astir putting successful close adjacent to the zoo."

In:

• Data Centers
• Nashville
• Artificial Intelligence