This past Saturday 3/21, Talk About Martin hosted an informational town hall in Indiantown to discuss the proposed projects in Indiantown for what could be three or four data centers.
The program began at 10am and consisted of a variety of speakers to address what is known about the impact of data centers.
After introductions and a few housekeeping items, the program began with a recorded video call with Jennifer Goehring, a resident of Spencer, Arizona, who lives near a data center and discussed the real-life impact as it relates to living within a certain proximity of a data center site, specifically the constant noise.
Next was a live discussion via Zoom with Dr. Steven Gonzalez Monserrate.
He is a postdoctoral researcher at the Fixing Futures Research Training Group at Goethe University. He received his Ph. D. in the History, Anthropology, Science, Technology & Society (HASTS) program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
One of his areas of focus has been exploring data center storage facilities and their ecological impact.
Rounding out the panel to address local concerns and questions were Christopher “Doc” Collins, Mayor of the City of Stuart, and Robin Cartwright, owner of Martin County Press and administrator of the SAVE – Martin County Facebook page.
According to the organizers, representatives from the Village of Indiantown, Martin County Board of County Commissioners, and Florida Power & Light were invited to participate. All declined. However, Village of Indiantown Vice Mayor Phyllis Waters Brown was in attendance in an effort to listen to the speakers.
The Program
The main part of the informational town hall was kicked off with an 8-minute video conversation between Eric Miller of Talk About Martin and Jennifer Geohring, a resident of Spencer, Arizona. Ms. Goehring has been speaking out about the constant noise from the data center in her neighborhood. She spoke to the effect the constant noise has on her as well as others in her community.
Following the video, there was a live Zoom call between Mr. Miller and Dr. Steven Gonzalez Monserrate.
This discussion centered around the ecological and environmental implications of a data center. Data centers need to be temperature regulated and the way to do that is to cycle water to dissipate heat.
Mayor Collins discussed the need for people to get involved at a local level. He praised those in attendance as local participation can be the most effective way to make change and to make an impact.
Ms. Cartwright reinforced the need for local input and participation and presented facts related to data centers including the need of the applicant to change the land use to accommodate the project.
Just the Facts About Data Centers – or some facts… and some questions
There are a lot of sources and information about data centers. These are the subjects within that about which there are concerns and questions.
WATER
Meta’s data center in north Kansas City uses 9.5 million gallons per day. For comparison:
- The City of Stuart uses up to 3.5 million gallons per day.
- Martin County uses up to 9 million gallons per day.
Even if water can be recycled or reclaimed, the initial draw has to come from somewhere.
The data center for Indiantown would be a “closed-loop” system, meaning the water would be recycled to cool the facility. Due to the heat, there is evaporation,. So the water would constantly need to be replenished.
The water on site would need to be treated, including filtration, chemical conditioning, and disinfection to manage corrosion, scaling, and microbial growth, ensuring efficient operations.
Big Sugar is receiving water even though we are in a drought. Will the same permissions and allowances be provided to data centers?
ELECTRICITY
Electricity prices jumped 6.9% in 2025 year over year, more than double the headline inflation rate of 2.9%, per a CNBC article.
Prices will continue to rise through the end of the decade as data centers make up 40% of electricity demand growth.
In 2025, utilities requested $31 billion in rate increases, more than double that of 2024.
Will the data center facilities be prioritized by power companies to be reconnected to the power grid before residents?
CLIMATE
2026 has seen record heat temperatures across the country. Closer to home, Miami hit a record high of 85°F on Jan 26, toppling a record set in 1898.
Less green space and fewer trees create higher temperatures.
Studies, such as those from Arizona State University, have observed that data centers can raise local air temperatures in adjacent neighborhoods by 2–4°F.
A single large data center can consume as much electricity as tens of thousands of homes, turning a massive portion of that energy into heat.
How will this impact things like agricultural efforts in a community like Indiantown?
THE SOUNDS
The sound heard from a data center change based on your proximity to the site. The noise comes from generators, cooling systems, and draws from the power grid.
To put noise levels into perspective, safe sound levels are 70 A-weighted decibels (dBA) or lower, according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Exposure to sounds 85 dBA and above is harmful to hearing.
the low-frequency “infranoise” from data centers is particularly disruptive because it travels long distances and can be felt as a vibration.
the low-frequency hum from these massive facilities is harder to block and can be heard—or felt as a vibration—up to 2.5 miles away, depending on the size of the facility.
The data center in Indiantown – the one we know of – is proposed to be 2 million square feet.
And there are allegedly more applications pending.
One question that was asked of the panel was how the sounds from a data center could affect veterans, and some first responders, with PTSD.
How will these data centers affect the health & well-being of residents – including veterans and first responders – with the constant noise?
TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES
The existing and proposed data centers are often millions of square feet each. As technology advances, will these data centers go the way of the traditional mall where the buildings outlive their usage?
More concerning, if these buildings are no longer of use, what happens to the physical buildings and can be done with the land? Is this rush to build so many data centers at one time sustainable?
Should we be concerned these parcels could become superfund sites?
A Superfund site is a highly contaminated location in the U.S. requiring long-term cleanup of hazardous substances, managed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
In many cases, data centers are developed on pre-existing contaminated industrial brownfields rather than creating the pollution that lands them on the National Priorities List (NPL) themselves.
But in Indiantown, the anticipated proposals for the data centers require the filling in of wetlands and would dramatically impact the environment.
As reported by WPTV on March 3, 2026, A proposed AI data center in Indiantown will affect multiple protected species and would be built on 200 acres of wetlands, according to records WPTV received from a public records request.
In addition, data centers create other significant environmental impacts, including hazardous waste (lead-acid/lithium-ion batteries, e-waste, coolants), intense water usage for cooling, and air pollution from diesel backup generators.
Should the Village of Indiantown, or any commission, consider building a data center on land that cannot be converted back to be used for any other purposes after a data center is built?
What's next?
It’s clear that the impacts of a data center are more than what an applicant submits for consideration. There are documented noise pollution concerns and real-life examples of people being impacted by these facilities.
One request made over and over was for the Village of Indiantown to take time to listen to and investigate the concerns of residents.
It has been suggested that council “hire the right consultants so that whatever is proposed is beneficial to the entire village.”
But consultants cost money.
Often, in situations like this, the developer / applicant will offer to pay for the consultants.
Well, those consultants are going to provide reports that favor the development while mitigating resident concerns.
It was suggested at the council work with residents to create a task force to learn, research, and address the concerns of residents.
We will continue to follow this story as it develops.
Check out one of the interviews conducted by Sunland News with Indiantown residents after the town hall.
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