Wisconsin residents sue Microsoft over noise caused by new data center
Residents living near Microsoft’s Fairwater data center in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, are suing the company over the facility’s alleged noise pollution.
The class-action lawsuit was filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, according to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Three residents of Sturtevant — a village approximately 30 miles south of Milwaukee close to the data center—are named as plaintiffs.
“Through its operation and maintenance of the Data Center, Defendant has emitted, and continues to emit, unreasonable and excessive noise onto Plaintiffs’ properties, thereby causing property damages through private nuisance and negligence,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit is the latest salvo from frustrated citizens as data centers have swept the country in the race to power AI development. Complaints have included noise and air pollution, excessive water use, and increasing energy costs. Communities in a number of states have launched protests and pushed for legislation to stop their construction.
The Fairwater data center is the first of several buildings that Microsoft plans to build on the campus. Both Microsoft, and electronics manufacturer Foxconn, which has a facility at the site, plan to expand their data center operations there in the coming years, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.
The lawsuit cites complaints and comments about the facility that were received by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
The plaintiffs claim the center “generates significant noise pollution from diesel generators and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, including chillers, cooling towers, air-handling units, and condenser fans.”
The suit further states that the noise produced by the facility is “not only excessive, but consistent and pervasive.”
The filing accuses Microsoft of failing to “implement adequate acoustic barriers, shields, or walls, that absorb, mitigate, and/or prevent the escape of noise, thereby resulting in the offsite emission of excessive noise beyond its property.”
The plaintiffs are seeking an unspecified amount in damages.
A spokesperson for Microsoft told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the company is “aware of the lawsuit related to our facility in the Village of Mount Pleasant.”
“Microsoft is committed to being a good neighbor in the communities where we build, own, and operate our data centers,” the company said in its statement.
The Independent has contacted Microsoft for comment.
Sean Ryan, the Mount Pleasant village communications director, told The Sentinel that it had not received any complaints about noise since Microsoft made changes to the facility in mid-April to address a humming noise coming from the data center.
