Set foot in Dowagiac, a sleepy town in Southwest Michigan, and you’ll immediately notice two things that stand out in the otherwise rustic surroundings: a massive 30 megawatt data center — and the constant ear piercing noise it emits.
No one knows this better than the Marjorie and Billy Finn, a married couple who live right in front of the sprawling complex. The constant hum is like a jet engine, Billy Finn told MLive. Using his own decibel meter in a video taken by the newspaper, he measures the noise levels from his porch, which hover around 60 decibels. That’s roughly the equivalent of a noisy dishwasher, except that sound is a constant presence everywhere outside.
“It’s like we’re living in a prison in our own yard, in our own house,” Marjorie Finn told the outlet, adding that she can even hear the hum while she tries to sleep at night.
Two other residents are suing the data center, Hyperscale Data, saying that their homes are being “physically invaded” by the “excessive noise” from its facility, MLive reported. (The Finns were approached to join the lawsuit but declined.) It doesn’t matter if you close the windows or turn up the TV — you’ll hear its constant screeching anyway, the suit alleges.
It also accuses Hyperscale Data of failing to implement adequate soundproofing measures, like the concrete walls that surround highways in residential areas.
According to Billy Finn, the noise is actually getting louder. He’s been tracking the decibel levels on Louise Avenue since 2022, when Hyperscale Data began operating. Back then, the sound level was around 52 decibels. Today, they’re typically around 61 decibels, and sometimes go as high as 78 decibels, he told the paper.
Inside his house, it goes down to 39 decibels, which is about the level of a quiet office or library, according to the American Academy of Audiology. But it jumps to 62 decibels when he opens the door, sounding a bit like a passenger jet taxiing on the runway in the distance.
“It’s [like] a constant major city street where you have a lot of vehicle traffic,” Billy Finn said.
Noise pollution isn’t an uncommon complaint about data centers. The Nashville Zoo in Tennessee warned that the construction of a nearby data center could harm the animals living in captivity. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute claims that they emit at ultra-low frequencies that can possibly induce a range of symptoms over time such as anxiety, nausea, though the science on this is iffy.
Sixty-two decibels won’t damage the ears, but over time it can spike your stress levels and has even been linked with cardiac problems, according to Kim Kragt, lead audiologist for Bronson Hospital.
“Even at a lower level, if it wasn’t doing damage to your ears, it is damaging your overall health and well-being,” Kragt told the newspaper, adding that because the data center’s hum is “unnatural,” it might be harder to adjust to.
The Finns feel trapped. They say fewer friends and family visit because of the noise, and they’re worried that it’s also driven down the value of their home.
“They’ve stolen something from us,” Marjorie said. “It feels like an immense loss.”
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