To the editor:
The piece in The County’s May 20 newspaper entitled “Grant contest to boost self-reliant businesses in East Grand region” was in stark contrast to the reporting on meetings for data center development in southern Aroostook a couple of months ago with the headline, “Developer scraps idea for southern Aroostook data center.”
The May 20 article is about the Greater East Grand Economic Council and ways they are looking to benefit their community from within, rather than relying on large employers from out of state. The GEGEC seems to understand that economic growth in not tied to corporate interests and instead needs to include the people who live in the region.
While meetings about the possibility of a data center locally happened under the radar from the general public, the GEGEC went door to door to have conversations with community members to find out what they want to see for their region. How refreshing.
The proliferation of data centers nationally in mostly rural areas, with no safeguards in place, should give us all pause. Shouldn’t we be thinking of the very reasons why we live here and why it’s special to us? The known associated issues of data centers to date include the development of vast amounts of land, including farmland, light and noise pollution, excessive amounts of water and electricity use (leading to higher rates for everyone else) and even water pollution. These should not be overlooked solely because of economic development.
All of these issues are antithesis as to why I personally love living here. Economic development can be thought of differently and the GEGEC is acting on that premise. Southern Aroostook can do the same.
Angela Wotton
Hammond
