An investigation is under way by the Environmental Protection Agency into complaints about noise emitting from a new data centre in Clondalkin in west Dublin.
The operator said it has applied mitigation measures and is continuing to investigate the issue.
Concerns in west Dublin first arose in late July, when some residents living close to the new Echelon DUB10 data centre in the Clondalkin Industrial Estate began hearing an unusual noise.
Residents had described a persistent humming, primarily at night but also during the day.
After receiving a number of complaints about the noise, the EPA launched an investigation which it said is still under way.
Aaron Jeffrey, who lives more than 2km away from the data centre said that when the issue began in late summer he thought it was his imagination, or a noise that was occurring within his home, but he soon realised he was not alone.
“I just remember hearing this buzzing noise. To be honest, at the start I thought I was going a bit crazy.
“Then after a couple nights of not being able to sleep, making sure it wasn’t the refrigerator pump or a neighbour playing something, I finally started recording it, and then I figured out from there that it probably was a local data centre.”
“It’s this kind of low-frequency hum that just seems to intercept through any material. It doesn’t matter if you close the doors, the blinds, the shutters, the vents on top of the windows. It’s just constant as well,” Aaron said.
“We made a post in Clondalkin Living on Facebook. A number of people commented on it, saying that they thought they were going insane because like their husbands couldn’t hear it, obviously because of the frequency and then we realised we weren’t the only people affected by this.”
“I’ve had to buy earplugs just to try and get a good night’s sleep, move the bed to the furthest corner of the room and see if there’s stuff we could get to try to block out sound. But unfortunately, because of the nature of the noise, there’s not really much you can do about it,” he added.
Aaron also said he has bags “under his eyes” and the lack of sleep he has experienced has had an impact both “mentally and and physically” on his well-being.
“I understand, there’s going to be disruptions in life. But every night, or a couple times a week, that’s no way to live.
“I understand the data centres have to be built, and we should have objected when it went in but unfortunately we can’t do that now. I have no problem with data centres being built, but they can’t disturb the locals and I truly believe they shouldn’t be built in residential areas.”
Echelon Data Centres said when it first received complaints, it commissioned external acoustic consultants and later removed a generator used by contractors out of hours.
However, the company said after noise complaints persisted, a new investigation got under way this week on the site, which is still under construction and not yet fully operational.
“We continued to carry out investigations at the site… and further completed mitigation measures applied to roof-mounted chiller units. We expect to have a preliminary analysis of a noise recording before the end of the week. This will be compared against our own data gathered onsite.
Echelon Data Centres said it takes its responsibilities, to the environment and the communities in which it operates, extremely seriously.
It said it is identifying and addressing the concerns that have been raised and will continue to do so as “a high priority”.
The issues in west Dublin come as a community group in Co Kildare holds a public meeting this evening about data centres in the county.
The Kildare Data Centre Awareness Campaign said it is concerned about the “rapid proliferation of data centres in County Kildare” and said it wants “greater transparency and control over the region’s development”.
Mayor of Naas Cllr Bill Clear said he will bring a motion on zoning in relation to data centres before Kildare County Council next week.