A. How the June 25 meeting was noticed — the document trail
This is the single most concrete thing we can show. It comes straight from the town's own website — its Agenda Center and the RSS feed that timestamps every posting.
The two agenda versions, posted about 90 minutes apart on June 24, 2026:
| When it was posted (RSS timestamp) | What the PDF said | Room | What's wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 24, 8:18:47 AM (RSS item 1220) | "AGENDA OF THE REGULAR MEETING, THURSDAY, JUNE 26 2026" | none listed | Wrong date — June 26 was a Friday. Anyone relying on it targets the wrong day. |
| June 24, 9:48:50 AM (RSS item 1218) | "THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2026" — corrected | Room 30 added | The quiet fix, about 90 minutes later. No louder re-notice that we could find. |
Source: both agenda PDFs and the RSS pubDate timestamps, massena.us Agenda Center — preserved June 26, 2026.
The agenda text itself (verbatim, from the corrected June 25 version — typos preserved):
MASSENA TOWN PLANNING BOARD — TOWN HALL, MASSENA N.Y. — 5:00 PM Room 30
AGENDA OF THE REGULAR MEETING, THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2026
…
Presubmission for NYDIG
1. Applicate to build data center at the old Reynolds plant
2. Discuss consultants needed
3. Discuss lead agency
The substance — a 635 MW data center moving to consultants and a lead agency — lived only inside that PDF, not as searchable text on the web page. That is a big part of why it was so easy to miss.
And the meeting it replaced: the June 18 Planning Board meeting was canceled, but per the RSS feed that cancellation wasn't posted until June 22, 1:21:56 PM (RSS item 1217). So the public's real notice window on the rescheduled meeting was roughly 24 hours, PDF-only, and at first mis-dated.
B. What was said about the data center — the official record, verbatim
From the May 21, 2026 Planning Board minutes (the company's presentation)
These are the company's own statements to the board. We quote them so neighbors can hold the company to its word — and so the environmental review can verify them.
The site & history
"Operating in Massena since 2017; 60 employees… Proposal to expand and modernize an existing data center campus at 182 & 194 County Road 45 (former Alcoa East / Reynolds site)."
The company says — May 21, 2026 minutes
Power
"No new generation required; reallocating existing approved capacity (435 MW approved, 200 MW pending)." … "No discounted power rates. Paying full market rates."
The company says — May 21, 2026 minutes
Jobs & taxes
"Employee count to increase to 200; 2,000 construction jobs projected over 18-24 months. Tax contributions expected to increase 5x."
The company says — May 21, 2026 minutes
Water & cooling
"Transitioned from open-loop to closed-loop cooling system… no water withdrawal/discharge from/to St. Lawrence River. Cooling system uses <4,000 gallons in a closed loop with glycol mix… They will be bringing water in from an approved outside party to fill up cooling tanks."
The company says — May 21, 2026 minutes
Backup generators
"Backup generators used for emergency situations, were reduced from 316 to 115; run only for maintenance (1 hr/month each) or emergencies (max 4 days/year)."
The company says — May 21, 2026 minutes
In the company's own words, it says it reduced them from 316 to 115 backup generators. Even after that reduction, the plan is 115 backup generators.
Noise
"Comprehensive studies show 40 dB at nearest residences (comparable to a refrigerator hum). Additional sound barriers and natural attenuation planned."
The company says — May 21, 2026 minutes
40 dB is already at the threshold where the WHO says nighttime noise begins to harm health — see the independent comparison (North Tonawanda, 70–90 dB) in section C below.
The review it expects
"Subject to extensive state and federal review (SEQR, DOT, DEC, Army Corps, SHPO, tribal agencies)." … "Public hearing to be scheduled; notifications via town website, local paper, and Facebook."
The company says — a commitment we can hold them to.
The board's own framing that night
"Vance announced that there would NOT be any vote on project. It was also announced that there was not even a formal site plan submission yet…"
From the record — May 21, 2026 minutes
From the June 25, 2026 agenda
The project advanced from "presentation only" (May 21) to "discuss consultants needed" and "discuss lead agency" (June 25) — it started moving through the machinery, even though no hearing had yet been scheduled.
C. Environmental facts — each with its source
| Fact | What it is | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Contaminated ground | The uplands carry PCBs, PAHs, dioxins, furans, cyanide, fluoride, and metals, capped and contained in place beside a monitored river-sediment cap. This is contaminated former-smelter land beside a federal river cleanup — not a listed NPL Superfund site. | EPA Region 2 records (preserved) |
| Noise (measured elsewhere) | A comparable crypto facility in North Tonawanda, NY ran 70–90 dB, 24/7, exceeded the city's 50 dB night limit nightly → citations and a 2-year moratorium. WHO: harm begins around 40 dB at night. | Record — a comparison, not a Massena measurement |
| Electric rates (precedent) | When crypto scaled up in Plattsburgh, NY, residents' bills spiked and the city became the first U.S. city to pause crypto mining. | Record |
| Air emissions (equity point) | A peer-reviewed model traced this facility's grid-driven PM2.5 pollution as far as Staten Island (about 100 miles away). The honest framing is emissions exported downstate — not "poison Massena's air." | Record — Nature Communications, 2025 |
| River / cleanup standing | The St. Lawrence River Area of Concern at Massena/Akwesasne is co-managed by NYS DEC and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe (2020 agreement); its boundary reaches the Massena water intake; six Beneficial Use Impairments remain unresolved. | Record — NYS DEC / SRMT |
| The $19.4M settlement | Alcoa paid a $19.4 million natural-resource-damages settlement for contamination that harmed Mohawk cultural and fishing uses; fish-consumption advisories date to 1984. | Record — NOAA |
D. Timeline
| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Bitcoin / data operation begins on the site (formerly Coinmint). | Company says — May 21 minutes |
| Jan 14, 2026 | Town posts a proposed local law adding "Data Centers" as a site-plan use in the General Industrial District. | Record — massena.us |
| May 21, 2026 | NYDIG / NCCS presents to the Planning Board. No vote, no site plan yet; chair says a public hearing will come later. | Record — minutes + NCPR |
| June 4, 2026 | Statewide 1-year data-center moratorium passes both houses of the Legislature; awaits the Governor's signature. Not yet law. | Record |
| June 18, 2026 | Planning Board meeting canceled (cancellation not posted until June 22). | Record — RSS |
| June 24, 2026 | June 25 agenda posted with the wrong date ("June 26"), then quietly corrected about 90 minutes later (Room 30 added). | Record — RSS + PDFs |
| June 25, 2026 | Planning Board takes up the project — consultants and lead agency. By one resident's account, about 11 people attended and the project was passed toward the Zoning Board. | Record (agenda) + anecdotal (turnout & Zoning handoff, one resident's post) |
| Late June 2026 | SEQR confirmed at its earliest stage — no determination of significance made; chair: "We have not even set up for a preliminary site plan." | Record — county coverage |
E. Filings & news — the links
- The town's records: massena.us → Agenda Center (Planning Board agendas, the May 21 minutes, the RSS feed). We hold preserved copies of the June 25 agenda versions, the May 21 minutes, and the RSS timestamps.
- News coverage: NCPR — Catherine Wheeler, "Massena Town Planning Board takes no action at data center meeting" (May 22, 2026), ncpr.org; North Country Now, northcountrynow.com; WWNY 7 News, wwnytv.com.
- The law in plain terms: New York's SEQR process — NYS DEC, "Stepping Through the SEQR Process," dec.ny.gov; New York Open Meetings Law §104 (notice) and §106 (minutes), nysenate.gov.