Allen Township Confronts Data Center Plan Amid Annexation and EPA Wastewater Battles

BY CAREY MORGAN

FINDLAY -Tensions between rural preservation and the rapid regional expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure collided at a recent public forum. An energy company unveiled tentative plans to develop a major data center campus in neighboring Allen Township, triggering immediate pushback from residents over noise, hazardous wastewater dumping, and the long-term threat of municipal annexation into the city of Findlay

The proposal, partially videotapped by Holly Frische on her Youtube channel, presented by representatives from OnSite Partners and its newly acquired subsidiary One Power, centers on parcels currently designated for agricultural use. Seeking to differentiate the project from highly criticized tech hubs across the state, developers pledged that the facility will not utilize local tax abatements, meaning the operation will pay "full freight" to support regional public schools and township infrastructure. Company officials project the development could yield between $300 million and $400 million in localized tax and property revenue over its operational lifespan

However, the mechanism for cooling the facility and managing its massive environmental footprint drew fierce scrutiny. To circumvent local grid limitations, developers detailed a design relying on an independent, behind-the-meter energy network. According to representatives, base-load electricity will be self-supplied via a combination of natural gas fuel cells and large-scale battery energy storage systems.

While developers advertised these technologies as a clean way to reduce strain on the public grid, local property owners voiced panic over the environmental and safety impacts of storing industrial generators and chemical battery banks on agricultural soil. According to rules via the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and state administrative codes, the chemical footprints of these components are tightly regulated due to heavy metal runoff and fire hazards. Concerns were amplified by recent statewide debates detailed in TOR reporting, regarding the toxicity of "forever chemicals" (PFAS) and unknown cooling contaminants that can leach from server cooling infrastructure directly into groundwater tables during wastewater dumping.

Wastewater disposal emerged as the most legally fraught element of the development. Facing criticism, the developer claimed the project would feature state-of-the-art cooling to avoid material water usage. However, the reality of local data center pollution was heavily contextualized by the Ohio EPA's landmark July 2026 decision. Following a surge of more than 7,000 public complaints from citizens fighting to protect Ohio waterways, state regulators officially scrapped a proposed statewide, "one-size-fits-all" general permit that would have let data center operators easily dump untreated cooling waste- and stormwater directly into local lakes, rivers, and streams. Because of this regulatory shift, the Allen Township project faces an arduous, project-by-project environmental review process, rather than a fast-tracked wastewater pass.

Compounding the environmental anxiety are severe quality-of-life grievances from neighbors who live near One Power’s existing distributed energy installations. Multiple residents described an unbearable, round-the-clock operational hum mimicking the sound of active jet engines. Property owners complained that the continuous acoustic vibrations completely drown out nature and force homeowners to entirely disable the sound-detection features on their residential security systems.

A central flashpoint of the township debate remains the high probability that the property will ultimately face annexation into the city of Findlay. Township residents openly worried that if the developer executes a pre-annexation agreement to secure direct city utilities, Findlay would capture the lion's share of the massive tax yield, leaving Allen Township with a microscopic fraction of the projected hundreds of millions of dollars.

Any attempt to connect the township parcels to the city, however, faces a strict regulatory barrier. In response to the unchecked expansion of regional tech developments, the Findlay City Council previously enacted an emergency 12-month moratorium blocking all new data center construction and structural conversions within corporate boundaries. Running through April 2027, the ban allows the city to finalize a stringent, conditional "I-3 Large Scale Industrial District" zoning ordinance designed to tightly govern groundwater strain, heavy energy requirements, and operational setbacks.While township representatives noted the project is in its infancy and will require substantial public input, developers confirmed a parallel, separate infrastructure initiative is also advancing.

A previously stalled arrangement to construct a network of 600-foot commercial wind turbines remains actively on track, though developers specified that those utility assets are designated for the public grid and will not directly feed the controversial data center facility.