In June of 2024, Vineland Planning Board approved a 2.4 million-square foot, 300 megawatt (MW) AI data center. The site plan includes six 220,000-square-foot buildings to house servers and computing equipment, making it one of the largest data centers in the entire Northeast region, a hyperscaler.
The data center will be powered by their own on-site natural gas power generation inclusive of 36 Bergen Engine units with a combined 403 MW potential (beyond the 300MW capacity), an existing natural gas pipeline, and some power provided by Atlantic City Electric. Additionally, according to a recent site plan update, there will also be a 60 foot tall liquified natural gas (LNG) storage tank.
Who’s developing this? The project is being developed by DataOne for the Nebius Group to support AI infrastructure as part of a $17 billion deal with Microsoft. They have, additionally, been open to expanding the construction of “this campus” with multiple clients and tenants to become a gigawatt-scale data center campus. Notably, DataOne has partnered with Northeast Precast, a non-union local business that pours concrete and builds precast buildings, whose owner John Ruga owned the land after it was sold to him by the county. Northeast Precast is now a minority shareholder with DataOne.
Environmental and Community Concerns
Community opposition has grown over the many environmental, noise, and energy affordability concerns. Although the developer claims otherwise, the water usage from the data center could deplete the critical Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer in the Pinelands National Reserve, staining water supplies especially during drought. This critical aquifer supplies clean drinking water to over one million people and seasonal visitors across South Jersey. The data center is also located on a Wellhead Protection Area, which is the surface and subsurface zone surrounding a public water well or wellfield, designed to protect drinking water from contamination.
The location for this data center is inappropriately sited, as it is just about 200 feet from protected, sensitive wetlands, near the Hudson Branch and Manantico Creek, and surrounded by low-income residential communities and farmland that is at the economic heartbeat of South Jersey.
The gas engines will emit noise and air pollution, negatively impacting public health and contributing to climate change. Construction of this massive project will also harm local wildlife and do irreparable damage to surrounding habitat.
Lack of Transparency and Accountability
On top of these concerns, there has been a serious lack of public engagement, awareness, and transparency, as there have been no Environmental Impact Studies conducted or official air permits granted by the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) yet. The local water utility conducted an initial study on the project and determined that more information was necessary to fully understand the long term water use impacts. This analysis is yet to be conducted and shown to the public.
The developer, DataOne, hosted a last-minute town hall on January 21st, 2026 which did not have a formal public meeting, but did include a question and answer period. Later that month, the City of Vineland even gave DataOne a tax exemption, excusing them from paying full property taxes for a period of five years. In the critical moment that we are in with data centers sucking up our power, straining our grid, and significantly driving up our utility bills, data centers should not be receiving sweetheart tax deals. To the contrary, they should pay for their fair share.
Join us in sending a message now to the Vineland Planning Board to demand answers regarding impacts to drinking water, air quality, local farmland, and residential communities from this unprecedented facility now and in the long term!
