05 of 06 What Council hasn't been told
Noise, day and night
Data centers hum all day and all night. Big fans, cooling machines and power equipment make a deep, low rumble. Here's what the builder's own noise test found, before anything was even built.
The short version
- The builder's own noise expert found the land is already too loud on the low-rumble test, at every spot tested. One spot was over by almost 25 decibels.
- All of it comes from one weekday afternoon in May. No one measured at night.
- The City's rule says the limit is the old noise or the legal number, "whichever is greater." So a louder starting point means a looser limit.
- No test checks the very low vibration (infrasound) that people near other data centers say makes them sick, and the ordinance doesn't require one yet.
How the City measures noise
Statesboro's rule sets the limit at the property line of the nearest home, school, church or other "sensitive receptor." It checks noise two ways:
- Regular loudness (called dBA): what your ear hears. Limit: 50.
- Low rumble (called dBC): the deep sound from generators, power equipment and big cooling machines. Limit: 70.
The exact words: noise "shall not exceed existing ambient conditions or 50 dBa/70 dBc at the property line of a Sensitive Receptor, whichever is greater."
Already too loud
The builder's noise consultant measured the land on one day: May 21, 2026, from 10 AM to 5 PM. Then the same day's numbers were written up three times:
- May 30 report: no low-rumble (dBC) numbers at all.
- July 10 report: the low-rumble numbers show up, and every one is over 70. But the report never says so. It only talks about the 50 dBA limit.
- August 12 report: the first one to say it out loud. Every spot tested was already over 70 dBC. One was at about 95, almost 25 over.
That's the noise there today, with no data center running.
Every number came from one weekday afternoon. Nobody measured at night, when neighbors are trying to sleep.
Here's the problem: because of "whichever is greater," if today's noise is already over 70, then today's noise becomes the limit. The data center could add its own rumble on top, and the rule may not stop it.
The August report also adds the consultant's opinion that there are "no vibration concerns," because the facility "does not have its own power generation." But nobody has said how many backup generators it would have. See Backup generators.
Read all three reports: May 30 (PDF), July 10 (PDF), August 12 (PDF).
The sound you feel more than hear
Neither check measures infrasound, and the ordinance doesn't require it yet. Infrasound is a vibration so low you feel it more than you hear it. Recent reports are surfacing about its health effects on communities near data centers: people living near them report headaches, nausea and trouble sleeping. They say it's hard to catch on a normal noise meter.
The time of day, the weather and the traffic during the "before" test can also change what the legal limit ends up being. A test on a busy afternoon sets a looser limit than one at 2 AM.
What a transformer hum sounds like
The concept plan shows an electrical substation of about 32,000 square feet. Big transformers hum all day and night. In the U.S., that hum sits at 120 Hz, with softer tones at 240 and 360 Hz on top. It's a low, steady drone.
Press play to hear an example. Start with your volume low. Headphones or a real speaker work best; phone speakers can't play very low sounds well.
This is a computer-made example of a 120 Hz hum, made for this page. It was not recorded at this site, and it isn't meant to show how loud it would be. Real data centers also make other tones, from fans and cooling machines, that depend on the exact equipment.
Here's why it matters: the City's regular loudness reading (dBA) counts low tones like this one less than your ear notices them. So a building can pass that test and still drone. That's why the low-rumble (dBC) check matters, and why it's a problem that the land already fails it.
What stronger rules look like
Science for Georgia's sample data center ordinance asks for more than Statesboro's does:
- Nighttime limits from 9 PM to 7 AM: 40 dBA (or 10 over the background), and 65 dBC.
- A noise study with both daytime and nighttime starting points, at the nearest home, that checks infrasound and tones.
- Yearly public reports on noise.
Will an independent expert, not the builder's, test the quietest nighttime hours, low rumble, tones, infrasound and upstairs bedrooms, with every machine running at once? Since today's noise is already over the low-rumble limit, what stops the facility from adding more on top? Will the City add a nighttime limit? And after it's built, who measures, how often, and what happens if it's too loud?