Residents of Dowagiac, Michigan, just filed a lawsuit against a data center that allegedly generates a high-pitched whining sound — and has done so 24/7 for the past two years.

The data center, which is owned by Alliance Cloud Services LLC, a subsidiary of Hyperscale Data, used to be an industrial building that sat behind a row of pine trees across the street from the most affected residents, according to ABC-affiliateWXYZ. The site started development in 2018 and was eventually turned into a cryptocurrency mining center in 2021. But in 2024, something changed drastically when the building started emitting noise pollution around the clock. Residents say it sounds like a vacuum cleaner in their living room, and the company has offered to buy up homes from unhappy residents.

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[–] 63 points 3 months ago (13 children)

That's very decent if them, but the thing is, there's now strong demand for those houses, as there's a corporate buyer looking to purchase them, so the price has gone up a bit. Say by an extra digit or so added to the value.

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  • [–] 20 points 3 months ago

    also if you have a lower interest rate than is available today (likely) then your payments are going to go up even if you buy a house at the exact same price. not to mention the cost and hassle of moving.

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  • [–] 19 points 3 months ago (10 children)

    Nah, they’ll have the government eminent domain the houses for pennies on the dollar

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago (9 children)

    Can’t eminent domain for a data center that’s already built.

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  • [–] 16 points 3 months ago (7 children)

    Can do it for expanding a data center

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (6 children)

    Are they expanding? Because the article is about noise.

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  • [–] 19 points 3 months ago

    Other poster isn't being difficult, facetious, or provocative, btw. The scumbags have already done exactly that, in other US states, already. Often. The articles are all over Lemmy.

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  • [–] 12 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    The developer mentions wanting to expand in the article

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    It's mainly about the noise but the article does mention

    The company said that it’s planning to expand its operations in the footprint in the area, but the city said that it hasn’t received any permit applications.

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