Serious questions about plan for United site

On Dec. 9, the village of Mount Prospect unanimously approved the $2.5 billion redevelopment of the former United Airlines Training Facility that has been nearly abandoned since the 9/11 attacks. The development will consist of three buildings at 560,000 square feet each, making it 1.68 million square feet and the fourth largest data center in the world.

The village's take will be more than $100 million annually.

The data center will use 252 megawatts of power and be located less than 300 feet from apartment buildings on the North and East side and only 1,000 feet from me. It will lower property values and negatively impact the quality of life of those in the area by creating noise, light and heat pollution around the clock. But even more disturbing is having a high-value target to our enemies embedded in a residential neighborhood.

In order to get power during emergencies or periods of peak demand, the complex will require the construction of its own Com-Ed sub-station, power plant, fuel treatment facility and fuel storage tanks.

Earlier in the zoning meeting the village unanimously approved aa ComEd proposal for hardening their sub-station adjacent to my condominium complex. This is to meet an Obama-era mandate to protect our infrastructure from attack. In addition, ComEd requested installation of a 104-foot communications tower at the site with five antennas and 150 wireless sensors as part of their "Smart Grid" improvements in my neighborhood.

I was the only resident in Mount Prospect to attend the meeting. To get to the meeting, I had to navigate through a gauntlet of suits that was made up of nearly a hundred ComEd, Cloud HQ, Cisco, lawyers, engineers, lobbyists and spokespeople. It felt like I was the lead character in a 1980s Steven Segal environmental adventure movie.

Robert Galorath

Mount Prospect