ReportWire

Tag: Markley Group

  • Markley Group responds to concerns about data center operations

    [ad_1]

    LOWELL — The Markley Group addressed concerns about its data center operations in a letter dated Sept. 22 that was sent to the Lowell City Council.

    On behalf of the company, attorney William Martin wrote that “We are hopeful that increased communication with all parties will ensure that any potential issues are resolved quickly moving forward.”

    The letter was sent to the council one day before the body met to consider Markley’s petition to more than double its emergency backup diesel fuel storage.

    “As part of this phase of construction they [Markley] are proposing to install additional emergency generators, each with an aboveground diesel fuel belly tank,” Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. PE Senior Project Manager William Taber said in a letter dated Sept. 5. “This will increase the on-site diesel fuel storage from 71,100 gallons to 168,000 gallons.”

    The Planning Board approved the company’s site plan in 2015, and the council followed suit in 2016, but the project has been mired in conflict ever since. Neighbors have consistently testified to several city boards about noise and air quality concerns, violations of approved permitting and a lack of communication and transparency by the Boston- and Los Angeles-based international company.

    Markley Group LLC bills itself as New England’s largest and longest-operating telecommunications and data center developer. In addition to its 350,000-square-foot Lowell facility, it has a major fiber data hub center, also known as a connected carrier hotel, in Downtown Boston, which is almost 1 million square feet of space.

    Its systems power and provide routing to a wide variety of private companies, state and local governments, universities and internet companies.

    Markley’s state-of-the-art data-storage and cloud-computing company is located in an area zoned as light industrial, and the property abuts moving companies, welding shops, metal fabricators, plumbing services and auto shops.

    But the site of the former Prince pasta plant is also ringed by residential neighborhoods, as well as the Cardinal O’Connell School and several playgrounds and parks.

    In his letter, Martin said many of the neighbor concerns were being addressed including safety and security at the 14-acre high-tech facility, such as unsecured fences and broken gates.

    “A fence that runs along an abutters property to the north of the site had been damaged,” Martin said. “Markley has gained access via an access agreement to repair that chained link fence. The Andrews Street fence has also been repaired.”

    This reporter visited both locations Saturday and noted a large chain locking the emergency gate on Andrews Street. A free-standing chain link fence enclosed the northside of the property where the diesel generators are located.

    With regards to noise mitigation, Martin said the temporary chillers that can be seen in drone footage shot by resident John McDonough June 9 that  had “created disruptive noise in the area surrounding the site,” had been removed.

    “Markley is also in the process of applying sound attenuation equipment to the permanent chillers on site,” he said. “Each chiller on site should have this equipment installed by the end of October, and each additional chiller installed on site will have this equipment.”

    Martin also addressed the towering and exposed dirt pile in the lot off Andrews Street. At its Oct. 21, 2024 meeting, the Planning Board approved a previous Markley site plan for an expansion of its “critical infrastructure.” Some of the Planning Board’s conditions to that approval included remediating the dirt pile.

    “This pile is essential to construction over the next several months, but we expect that the majority of it will be cleared by the end of the calendar year,” Martin said. “The Markley Group will work with a site professional to ensure that excavation of any soil on the property is carried out in accordance with any other state and federal agency, and that dust-control measures are taken during the course of the construction work.”

    Regarding its commitment to the neighbors, Martin said Markley recognized the importance of transparency as they continued their work in Lowell and were committed to being better neighbors.

    “That’s why Markley has hired Jackie Martin to manage a public affairs program as they continue their growth and work within the city,” Martin said. “Markley is looking forward to having a more open line of communication with neighbors and the community, and encourages any neighbors to reach out to markleyneighbor@gmail.com with questions or issues regarding their operations. Neighbors are encouraged to reach out to this address before contacting the City to help work through issues proactively. Emails will be answered as swiftly as possible.”

    After hearing public testimony at the Sept. 23 meeting, the council voted to refer the petition to a joint meeting of the Environmental & Flood Issues and Neighborhoods Subcommittee to be held Tuesday at City Hall.

    Councilors Corey Belanger, Corey Robinson, Paul Ratha Yem, Erik Gitschier and Wayne Jenness will hear public comment on Markley’s petition.

    The public is invited to register to speak by sending an email to City Clerk Michael Geary at mgeary@lowellma.gov or by calling 978-674-4161. 

    [ad_2]

    Melanie Gilbert

    Source link

  • 96,700 gallons of diesel fuel on Lowell’s Council agenda

    [ad_1]

    LOWELL — Almost 168,000 gallons of diesel fuel will be stored at the Markley Group’s data center in Lowell’s Sacred Heart neighborhood if the company’s most recent application for fuel storage is approved by the City Council Tuesday night.

    The fuel powers the facility’s backup generators that provide emergency power to the state-of-the-art data-storage and cloud-computing company in the case of a grid failure.

    “As part of this phase of construction they [Markley] are proposing to install additional emergency generators, each with an aboveground diesel fuel belly tank,” Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. PE Senior Project Manager William Taber said in a letter dated Sept. 5. “This will increase the on-site diesel fuel storage from 71,100 gallons to 167,800 gallons.”

    The storage of greater than 10,000 gallons of combustibles in Massachusetts requires a license from the City Council, a permit to store combustibles from the Fire Department, and the fuel storage must also be registered with the City Clerk. All emergency generators have already gone through the appropriate Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection air quality permitting process before being presented to the council for consideration.

    Markley purchased the former Prince pasta plant parcel for $4 million in 2015 and embarked on a dramatic renovation of the foreclosed property that had been vacant since 1998.

    The company started its operations with four diesel generators, but as its mission-critical operations have expanded, the plant’s energy infrastructure has, too. Its systems power and provide routing to a wide variety of private companies, state and local governments, universities and internet companies.

    Drone footage shot by Lowell residents John McDonough and William Palermo show the scope of the work being done on the 14-acre site in what is zoned as light industrial.

    At its June 24 meeting, a majority of councilors approved Markley’s license for four diesel-powered generators holding 24,000 gallons of fuel, despite resident and community concerns around ongoing construction projects, equipment noise and air pollution.

    But several councilors stated approval of future fuel storage applications would be weighed against Markley meeting with the city’s Sustainability Director Katherine Moses to explore non-fossil fuel alternatives for backup power generation, as well as better communication with the neighbors living on its vast periphery.

    Moses presented a report to the Sustainability Council at its Aug. 28 meeting, where she said it was important for the city to have conversations with Markley to “make sure we’re all going in the same direction.”

    “I had an initial conversation with them,” Moses told the Sustainability Council members. “I felt a little better after that conversation. I think they do recognize that they can’t indefinitely bring diesel generators on site… .”

    The Sustainability Council’s function is to advocate for green design, construction and development practices in the city of Lowell that will increase sustainability and reduce the environmental impacts of building and other development activity.

    Moses told the Sustainability Council that the biggest emissions category in Lowell are buildings, “and it is split almost half and half between commercial industrial kinds of buildings and residential buildings.”

    Reducing carbon emissions has proved challenging as the city has also embarked on an economic development plan that embraces large-scale technology-driven companies like Draper Labs that relies on data centers like Markley to power its work. And UMass Lowell continues to build out its microelectronics program that also relies on Markley’s technology.

    Resident Mary Burns, who is chair of the UMass Building Authority, told the council in June that the university’s Lowell Innovation Network Corridor project depends on a data center presence in Lowell.

    “In order for LINC to happen, we need Markley,” she said. “They store the data that these companies looking at coming to our campus – it’s required. They can’t come here if we don’t have Markley.”

    That development is both in contrast to and aligned with the city’s selection as Frontrunner City by the Urban Economy Forum, an international organization that collaborates with the United Nations, municipal leaders, partners such as the World Urban Pavilion, and the private sector to reshape urban economies through the implementation of the U.N.’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

    UMass Lowell Chancellor Julie Chen met the UEF delegation when they visited Lowell in July and addressed the group via a remote link during an August signing ceremony at the United Nations Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Academic partnerships are integral to UEF’s develoment goals in Lowell.

    Although the MassDEP greenlights Markley’s diesel generators based on compliance to its regulations, the city is working other angles to move toward a carbon-free emissions future.

    The City Council sent a letter to the state and federal delegation to encourage the availability of sustainable non-fossil fuel alternative to diesel for use in emergency backup power generation to help Lowell meet its climate goals.

    Moses said Markley has agreed to meet with her on a quarterly basis.

    “I also encouraged them to think about creating a plan to move away from all this onsite diesel storage and find other ways to provide the backup generation,” she said.

    [ad_2]

    Melanie Gilbert

    Source link