u/smokindatkrak

Need help finding out more about data center at 4101 W Maple Ave-- similar to Mt Royal data center

Hello, all. I've been doing some research into a collocation and data storage facility managed by Cogent Communications at 4101 W Maple Avenue, Pennsauken, NJ. That address is at Block 5204, Lot 2.

This is the most similar redevelopment project I could find to the proposed site in Mt Royal. I hope that by finding out more about this building, we can anticipate and counter arguments that will be made by whatever parties are trying to put up the facility in Mt Royal.

Here is what I know so far about the history of the building's becoming a collocation center:

  1. 4101 W Maple Ave was previously a switchboard facility for telephone communications
  2. May 2023: Cogent acquires entire fiber network of Sprint/T-Mobile, including assets like the building at 4101 W Maple Ave
  3. The original switchboard equipment in the facility was removed and replaced with equipment pertinent to a data collocation facility

I surveyed the outside perimeter of the building and found the following next to the radiator set on the corner of 130:

  1. a secondary transformer labeled W004932 2000 KVA PRI 4KV/13KV SEC 480Y/277 5.77ZZ

I think this secondary transformer can power something like 600 homes. Ambient noise about 40ft from this generator and radiator is about 68dBA according to my cellphone mic. The generator and radiator are located next to highway 130, which was lightly trafficked at the time of recording.

I also found the following on Maple Ave, next to the original radio antenna, on a building that appears to house a refrigerant system and additional generator, that building is labeled 4203:

  1. 3 Bard R410As. These are refrigeration units
  2. Some other HVAC-looking unit with serial number 325C193637153-01
  3. a Cummins Power diesel generator labeled Genset#01
  4. A diesel tank underneath the generator
  5. A diesel spill cleanup kit

I think this is just the refrigeration facility.

--

I put in OPRA request for records related to this building last week: https://pennsaukentownshipnj.nextrequest.com/requests/26-147

Based on the acquisition history provided by Cogent, it makes sense that no redevelopment project would be available for this project. Though, in 2025, Cogent put in an application for this building to have its refrigeration system upgraded, which was fulfilled. I have not filed an OPRA request for those documents yet.

Anyone who is willing to participate in citizen science regarding this building, please let me know. I'm certain there are records that we can acquire for this building. I would also like others who know more about the parts I described to provide advice.

The town of Pennsauken is highly cooperative with OPRA requests and responded to me within a single business day. Please remember to thank county clerk's office staff for their hard work.

reddit.com
u/smokindatkrak — 13 hours ago
🔥 Hot ▲ 163 r/New_Jersey_Politics+1 crossposts

Cool new NJ bill turns state into nuclear toilet for AI data centers

Statement at the bottom: The bill would stipulate that the purpose of the rules and regulations would be to encourage and expedite the construction of new AI data centers that are powered by on-site SMRs in the State, as well as the construction and use of SMRs at existing AI data centers.

Note: SMR = Small Modular (nuclear)Reactor

EDIT FOR WHY YOU SHOULD CARE: BASICALLY OUR NUCLEAR SAFETY CULTURE IS HOTDOG WATER AND A BUNCH OF BILLS GOT PASSED OR HAVE BEEN PROPOSED TO MAKE NUCLEAR SAFETY WORSE.

EDIT AGAIN FOR THE SENATORS TO CALL SHOUTOUTS TO DEATH AND COOKIES FOR POINTING IT OUT: Sponsored by:

Senator  CARMEN F. AMATO, JR. District 9 (Ocean)

Senator  PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR. District 18 (Middlesex)

Executive Order 14300 undermines NRC's safety capacity by reducing inspection hours by 40%, reducing staff, and demanding the NRC to reconsider (throw away) the Linear No Threshold radiation exposure safety model, which isn't really used a lot in medicine, but is extremely useful when optimizing safety in nuclear powerplant design.

The ADVANCE Act undermines the NRC's safety _orientation_ by tasking the commission with nuclear expansionism and demanding expedience in licensure, rather than merely asking it to be a safety commission. As well, private interests can now seek licensure from the DOE instead.

This NJ bill 3639 also adds further expediting measures for private interests.

This alone should raise a bunch of red flags because nuclear power decisions are typically made over decades, not just a couple of years.

But on top of that, literally all nuclear meltdowns in the last 50 years have been caused by regulatory failure through conflict of interest. Fukushima and Three Mile Island both involved regulatory capture by private financial interests specifically.

I doubt these AI data center companies are going to be transparent in their private nuclear power plant management and operation practices. They will assure us that everything is okay until we find out that it isn't. And this will ultimately give a lot of people cancer. These people will be ordinary folks who live in the range of these data centers. Microsoft, Nebius, and DataOne's CEOs all live at least 2500 miles from us. Nuclear meltdowns are a financial liability to be managed to them, not a humanitarian crisis to be prevented.

EDIT AGAIN: So, like, as far as LNT and ALARA goes, it's not that I consider it the end-all-be-all of nuclear safety, it's that I consider demanding the agency to reconsider a red flag because it's a demand to go from more prudent safety measures to less prudent safety measures, so it's like indicative of an acceleratingly worse nuclear safety program.

pub.njleg.gov
u/smokindatkrak — 10 days ago