LAST UPDATE | 28 mins ago

THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION Agency (EPA) has launched an investigation into noise complaints over a new data centre in Dublin.

The noise complaints have been submitted by residents who live close to a data centre in the Clondalkin Industrial Estate, which is operated by Echelon Data Centres.

Echelon is a data centre owner, developer and operator which has four data centres in Ireland.

In posts on the Clondalkin News Facebook group, the noise being emitted from the vicinity of the Clondalkin data centre has been described as “very annoying”.

A post on the same Facebook group said that the noise being produced is “at a disturbing level”, and comments under this post labelled it a “horrible noise”.

Another said they thought it was a “helicopter hovering for hours at night” and several said they have been “driven crazy” by the “constant buzzing”.

“I hear this every single night, it’s ridiculous,” read another comment.

In a statement to The Journal, the EPA said it first received a noise complaint related to the Clondalkin site on 15 July, and that a further 11 noise complaints have been submitted since.

The EPA said it has “engaged directly with the complainants where possible”, as well as Echelon.

Eoin Ó Broin, a Social Democrats councillor for Clondalkin, is among these complainants. 

He told The Journal that it is “incumbent on the EPA as the independent authority overseeing the data centre site to ensure that the disturbing noises are ameliorated so as to eliminate the nuisance they are causing residents who are living nearby”.

Meanwhile, the EPA spokesperson said it has followed up on these complaints and has instructed Echelon to also “investigate and provide responses to the nature of the noise source and the mitigation measures to be taken”.

An EPA investigation is ongoing and a spokesperson said Echelon “is engaged in the process”.

The EPA said Echelon has “engaged acoustic consultants to investigate noise emissions and has installed 24/7 noise monitoring sensors along the site boundary in order to investigate and characterise the noise profile”.

The EPA added that it is “reviewing and assessing” Echelon’s submissions as part of an ongoing compliance investigation.

The EPA has also engaged independent consultants to undertake noise monitoring at “noise-sensitive locations”.

Reports arising from this will be published on the EPA’s Licence and Enforcement Access Portal.

Meanwhile, Echelon is now required to submit a noise management plan for the facility to the EPA.

The EPA added that “should non-compliance with conditions of the licence be detected, the Agency will take appropriate enforcement action”.

In a statement to The Journal, Echelon said it “takes its responsibilities to the environment and the communities in which it operates extremely seriously”.

It noted that complaints have made by local residents to the EPA and said that it has commissioned external acoustic consultants to investigate reports of “intrusive night-time noise in the vicinity of the DUB10 site in Clondalkin”.

Echelon said it carried out investigations at the site and has removed a generator unit that was used by a contractor out of hours.

It added that “further mitigation measures” have been applied to the roof-mounted chiller units.

Echelon said its investigation team was mobilised again on Monday 31 August, following a further complaint to the EPA.

“We expect to have a preliminary analysis of the noise recording which was submitted before the end of the week,” said Echelon.

Echelon added that the “probable cause has been identified, and immediate action has been taken to resolve the issue”.

“This is, and remains, a key priority,” added a spokesperson.