"We Weren't Told": What Kenilworth's Protesters Are Saying About an AI Data Center

In a New Jersey borough of two square miles, a former pharmaceutical campus has become a test case for how communities live beside the machines that run artificial intelligence.

Kenilworth's mayor confirmed the borough council approved the sale of land at the Northeast Science and Technology Center, known as the NEST campus, to tech company CoreWeave in 2025.

The project is a $1.8 billion,400,000-square-foot data center. It will take over the former Merck campus, with construction expected to finish by the end of 2027.

Residents' first complaint is about process. "I wasn't notified at all," one resident said. Others told the council that public notice was insufficient, nondisclosure orders obscured the project's scope, and health and noise studies are needed.

One speaker complained that a key redevelopment resolution passed without public comment on the consent agenda. A local analysis shows the Planning Board approved CoreWeave's data center 8 to 0 in May 2025, long before the wider public fight began.

The second complaint is about environmental and health costs. One resident said AI data centers are known to consume massive amounts of energy and water, and asked what assurances the community has.

At a meeting in neighbouring Union on 13 October, speakers raised concerns about air and water quality, noise, energy use and public health. Another put the feeling bluntly: "CoreWeave owns Kenilworth now."

The protest has spread beyond Kenilworth. Residents in Kenilworth, Union, Roselle Park and Clark have packed public meetings and organized against the project. Roselle Park moved to bar data centers from all zones, and Union has prohibited hyperscale data centers within its own borders and approved funding for legal and planning reviews. Tension also rose over how meetings are run: Kenilworth listed an ordinance capping public comment at 45 minutes per meeting.

The company's response is that it wants to be a good neighbour. CoreWeave told ABC7 that it views data centers as investments in the communities that host them and remains committed to ongoing engagement.

There is support too: some Kenilworth residents have publicly called the project positive for the borough. One analysis argues that residents want proof that the benefits justify the public costs.

What are the protesters really expressing? Mostly not opposition to AI itself. They are objecting to how a decision with local consequences was made, without clear notice and with little say for neighbours, and they want hard answers on power, water, noise and health before the building goes up.

The lesson travels. As African governments court data centres, the same questions will come up in Accra, Lagos and Nairobi: who is told, who decides, and who carries the burden. Communities that are consulted early and given enforceable commitments are less likely to end up in the streets.

Mustapha Bature Sallama
Medical/Science communicator, Private Investigator, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Analysis,United States Institute of Peace (USIP), [email protected] +233555275880

Sources
"Union County Residents Protest Proposed AI Data Center in Kenilworth," News 12 New Jersey, May 2026. https://newjersey.news12.com/2026/05/07/union-county-residents-protest-proposed-ai-data-center-in-kenilworth/23Tni8ixRsZOgmXwIv3Cl3

"Community rallies against giant data center being built in Kenilworth, New Jersey," ABC7 New York, 14 May 2026. https://abc7ny.com/post/community-rallies-giant-data-center-being-built-kenilworth-new-jersey/19053270/

"Union Township Committee Hears Residents' Concerns Over Kenilworth CoreWeave Data Center," TAPinto, 14 Oct 2026. https://www.tapinto.net/towns/union/sections/government/articles/union-township-committee-hears-residents-concerns-over-kenilworth-coreweave-data-center

"Residents press council to halt CoreWeave data center…," Citizen Portal, 1 July 2026. https://citizenportal.ai/articles/8363361/new-jersey/union-county/kenilworth/residents-press-council-to-halt-coreweave-data-center-challenge-notice-and-confidentiality-orders

"Kenilworth Approved CoreWeave's Data Center With No Public Opposition. A Year Later, the Fight Began." https://hs.getobedio.com/blog/kenilworth-approved-coreweaves-data-center-with-no-public-opposition.-a-year-later-the-fight-began

"CoreWeave's Kenilworth Data Center Turns a Quiet Town Into New Jersey's AI Test Case." https://www.remio.ai/post/coreweaves-kenilworth-data-center-turns-a-quiet-town-into-new-jerseys-ai-test-ca