Tonawanda Seneca Nation member Grandell Logan addresses the Genesee County IDA leadership Thursday. Photo by J. Dale Shoemaker.

TOWN OF ALABAMA — Wearing a quill and wampum-patterned necklace around his neck, Grandell Logan put a proposed Genesee County data center in stark terms.

“This hangs over me like an axe, right at my neck,” Logan, a member of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation, said. “You’re talking about $1.4 billion for a multibillion dollar company. What sense does that make?”

“I’m going to say it plain. I’m against this data center. I’m against STAMP. I think this is irresponsible. I think these incentives are irresponsible.”

The proposed data center — a three-building campus that would cover more than 38 football fields — has enraged both Nation members and residents of the rural towns surrounding the STAMP industrial park. 

Logan was among more than 200 who packed the Town of Alabama fire hall Thursday night to demand local economic development officials reject the proposed data center and the $1.46 billion tax break package requested by developer Stream U.S. Data Centers. That’s one of the largest subsidy packages for a data center to date, and, at $11.7 million per job, carries one of the highest costs-per-job ever recorded for such a facility.

To operate, the data center would require 500 megawatts of electricity and 20,000 gallons of water daily. That’s less water than other data centers use but enough power for 400,000 homes. In the event of a power failure, the data center would run 12 backup diesel generators, each with 9,500-gallon tanks. In planning documents, Stream has said the facility would run 24/7 and emit noise at 65 decibels, about the noise of an office. The company has said noise would drop to 45 decibels — about that of an average household — at night.

The Genesee County Economic Development Center, meanwhile, should its board of directors approve the project, would notch a major tenant for the struggling STAMP industrial site and earn $146 million in fees — enough to fund its annual operations for decades.

Speakers Thursday said they were concerned about all of that.

Members of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation said they view the data center as an existential threat to their territory’s Big Woods, where members  hunt deer and gather medicinal plants. Some explained that a core belief of the Nation is protecting the environment so that those living seven generations from now can use and enjoy it. 

Residents of Alabama and the surrounding towns said they worry that noise from the data center will disrupt daily life — and sleep — and fear the facility will reduce their property values. Others expressed offense at the size of the proposed subsidy package.

Others from the Western New York region said they were dismayed by affects to local wildlife and that the project would benefit the multi-billion dollar private equity firm Apollo Global Management which acquired Stream in November.

Corfu resident Matthew Orleman said he was “tired of corporate America having the red carpet [rolled out] for them.”

“It has to stop,” Orleman said. “I am here fighting for my children, I am here fighting for the Tonawanda Nation, I’m here fighting for the neighbors who have to deal with the noise, the pollution and the problems that corporate America continues to burden the American people with.”

More than 200 people filled the Alabama Fire Hall Thursday. Photo by J. Dale Shoemaker.

The hearing lasted five-and-a-half hours. Dozens spoke against the data center, often running over their allotted three minutes at the podium. Only two — a Rochester-region economic development official and a local construction union official — spoke in favor of the project, arguing it would bring good-paying jobs to the region.

“We need projects like this to put people to work,” said Tom Iorizzo, a representative of the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters.

Mark Masse, president and CEO of the Genesee County Economic Development Center, argued the project would create 1,000 construction jobs annually over five years and 125 permanent jobs paying more than $80,000 on average. He argued that even with the tax breaks, Stream’s facility would pay more than a half of a billion in fees and sales tax over the lifespan of the 30-year project, revenue that otherwise would not be generated. Masse said Genesee County’s portion of the funds would help pay for a much-needed water infrastructure upgrade.

A final vote on the project by the IDA’s board has not yet been scheduled. Board members have not responded to Investigative Post’s requests for comment on the project.

Residents decry data center

The public hearing at times grew rambunctious with attendees shouting, jeering and pounding on folding tables. Masse at one point pleaded with the crowd to calm down.

Alabama resident Jim Joyner said he questioned why the data center project was “pushed on us very quickly” and noted that state lawmakers this legislative session have proposed a three-year moratorium on new data center construction.

“Governor Hochul — I’m not a big fan of her either — she stated data centers should pay their fair share,” Joyce said. “I’d just like to know why you’re trying to push this? Why don’t you wait like they’re proposing and really study this?”

Our continuing coverage

• STAMP data center could jack up power bills – Dec. 17, 2025
• Genesee IDA has ‘conflict of interest’ in data center – Jan. 30, 2026
• Data center wants subsidies of $6.4 million per job – Feb. 4, 2026
• Subsidies for STAMP data center among largest ever – March 18, 2026
• STAMP data center developer has ties to Epstein – March 19, 2026

Amy Perry Brock said she lives nearby and said she was suspicious of the project because the IDA won’t disclose who Stream’s tenant will be. The world doesn’t need another data center to power artificial intelligence programs, she said. 

“I don’t need a system that’s going to create a stupid meme or another dumb picture or misinformation to divide us further,” she said. “This area is perfect the way it is.”

She also opposed the size of the subsidy package.

“We’re not stupid when you talk about abatements. We know they’re not getting handed a billion dollars. But we’re gonna pick up the billion dollars,” she said. “I’m tired of hearing about corporate handouts.”

Batavia resident Rebecca LeFevre said she consulted ChatGPT about whether the data center was a good idea. The AI-powered chatbot returned a measured response, she said, determining that the data center is a good idea if the goal is to fill space at STAMP and attract a significant investment to the region. But, the chatbot said, the data center was a bad idea if fiscal responsibility and environmental protection were the goals.

“If your priorities are fiscal responsibility and environmental sustainability then the honest answer based on current data is: In its current form, the Stream data center proposal is not a good idea,” LeFevre read from her ChatGPT conversation.

Residents question Epstein ties

Multiple speakers Thursday said they were concerned about connections between the data center and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

As Investigative Post and other outlets have reported, Apollo CEO Marc Rowan worked with Epstein from 2013 through 2016 to restructure trusts and other holdings for himself and Apollo co-founder Leon Black. The pair exchanged emails, spoke on the phone and Rowan attended several breakfast meetings at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion. The work ultimately resulted in Black paying Epstein a $158 million fee, which an investigation later revealed was used to fund Epstein’s operations in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Those ties, said Kelly Hollenbeck of Bergen, made her even more suspicious of the data center’s unnamed tenant.

“Whether those connections ultimately prove meaningful, the reality is this: Secrecy breeds distrust and right now the process surrounding this process is full of secrecy,” she said.

Apollo and Rowan in recent months have sought to distance themselves from Black and Epstein. In a statement to Investigative Post, Rowan spokesperson Steven Lipin denied that Epstein had a “business or personal relationship with Mr. Rowan, Apollo or anyone at Apollo (other than Mr. Black).”

Nation fears data center

Testimony Thursday oscillated between anger at the IDA and remorse at how the facility could permanently alter the area. Nation member Melissa Smith said she was committed to fighting the project.

“I actually thank you,” she said to Masse and others from the IDA. “You’ve brought all of us like-minded people together. We are all committed to stopping this environmental catastrophe.”

“I care about all the land, it doesn’t stop at my borders.”