Background Info. Read the Petition Below.

TeraWulf, a bitcoin mining company-turned AI data center company, is proposing a 300 or 400 Megawatt AI data center on the shores of Cayuga Lake. This development will bring adverse environmental, quality of life, and economic impacts to much of all life as we know it throughout the Cayuga Lake watershed. Read on to learn more about these impacts and to add your voice to the growing chorus of residents letting TeraWulf and the Town of Lansing Planning Board know that TeraWulf’s development intentions are neither wanted nor welcome.

To construct their proposed buildings which will house computing equipment used by companies like Google, which is TeraWulf's largest shareholder, they will need to clear more than 40 acres of a forested hillside on the shore of Cayuga Lake and blast into bedrock in some spots. Their proposed plans involve new power transmission line construction through wetlands, which has the potential to change the habitat type for decades, stir up sediments which endangers aquatic life, and greatly reduce the wetland's water holding capacity- potentially permanently altering the wetland hydrology, if not outright destroying the wetlands all together. Despite TeraWulf’s verdant Photoshop renditions of the proposed project, more than 30 acres of new impervious surfaces will likely increase storm water runoff, soil erosion, and contamination of Cayuga Lake.

According to a new study, AI data centers were recently found to increase the temperature of surrounding communities by an average of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit*.

A development of this size places an enormous demand on our electric grid, and increased electricity demand at this scale would raise the wholesale price for already rising utility costs. According to the NY Independent System Operator (the department that monitors the reliability of the state's power system) "New York's electric system faces an era of profound reliability challenges as retirements accelerate... The margin for error is extremely narrow, and most plausible futures point to significant reliability shortfalls within the next ten years." Adding large loads like 400 MW data centers during this time is irresponsible and we should instead be focusing on improving our grid infrastructure to improve reliability.

TeraWulf is now proposing construction to occur round-the-clock and could last up to 6 years, disturbing neighbors 24/7/365 on the East and West sides of Cayuga Lake, disturbing wildlife in the adjacent Cayuga Shores Wildlife Management Area and elsewhere, and disturbing anyone who recreates on this part of the lake. Additionally, once operations are up and running, the constant sound generated by running of equipment and fans to cool the equipment 24/7 will have negative consequences on humans and wildlife alike.

Last fall, TeraWulf officials promised that no diesel generators and no water withdrawal from the lake would be needed at the project. However, on April 27, TeraWulf informed the Town of Lansing Planning Board that they now plan to install six 2500 kw diesel generators on the site for backup power generation and to use up to 700,000 gallons of lake water per day for mist cooling on particularly hot days. They have also told the Planning Board that water withdrawn from the Lake under the Cayuga Operating Company's water withdrawal permit would be used for suppression of dust created by the data center project construction. Diesel-powered earth-moving equipment and these backup generators will emit a complex mixture of particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrous oxide (NOx) among other harmful pollutants that create smog and exacerbate respiratory illnesses.

*https://www.researchgate.net/publication/403073048_The_data_heat_island_effect_quantifying_the_impact_of_AI_data_centers_in_a_warming_world