Source: https://www.eesi.org/, March 23, 2026
By: Miguel Yanez-Barnuevo

• Data centers emit sounds from the humming of cooling systems, rumbling of diesel generators, and whirring of fans, which can be heard for hundreds of feet around them.
• Noise pollution is regulated at the local and state levels through zoning ordinances, but for a time in the 1970s, the Environmental Protection Agency oversaw noise pollution and conducted noise-control investigations. It still has the legal authority to do so.
• Because there is a lack of reliable data from sound level meters and because most county or community noise ordinances are written to address noisy block parties (rather than data centers), most noise complaints go nowhere, leading to frustration and lower property values. Read more.