The birds chirping in Sue and Barry Dibble’s backyard weren't a concern when they started living on Adams Center Road. Lately, though, their tune is drowned out by the construction on Google’s Project Zodiac campus.
Their backyard butts up against the property line of the massive site, with cranes and buildings peaking above the hill where farmland and trees once sprawled.
Their retirement interrupted; the couple volunteered their backyard Sunday to host a community gathering organized by the Protect Allen County Coalition. Addressing a crowd of a few dozen, Barry spoke on what’s next for community members.
“I mean, unfortunately there’s not much we can do. But what I'm trying to tell you, and what I want you to take away from this, is maybe we can stop another one,” Barry Dibble said.
Attendees could leave messages and notes on large pieces of paper on tables, with themes such as “community care,” “what Google needs to know” and “what our government needs to know.”
Watching over one of these tables was Christine Smith, a community member who bemoans the tough decision Google’s data center project has presented to her.
“I’ve lived here now for 30 years, and this was my retirement plan. You know, it was not my retirement plan to move," Smith said. "It's not my retirement plan to live in an area, though, that is going to give me lung cancer or COPD. But I’m 70-years old, I can’t really move.”
The gathering concluded with spoken word poetry delivered by Anjenai Sankara, a 16 -year-old fearing the outcome of Project Zodiac, and artificial intelligence in general.
“But now the plan is seemingly deny, deny, deny
Deny what's happening with our water. Deny that it's raising the bills.
Deny the fact that it's dumbing down our kids.
Deny that it's messing with the National Parks.
And deny the fact that these data centers are going to rip our creative jobs apart.”
While community members fear what the data center will bring to their area, they are ready to keep their spirits high and to keep organizing.