Meet the ‘mini Erin Brockoviches’ fighting off eminent domain—and the shadow of Amazon—as a data center hands out $10,000 to their neighbors

Erika Cook knew about NorthPoint Development’s plans for a 1,300-acre data center years before Hazle Township residents received a letter in the mail in June, outlining a potential $10,000 payday for eligible households who agreed to the data center’s construction. 

Receiving the money was contingent upon the residents of the rural Pennsylvania region at the foot of the Poconos allowing the developer to build a 15-building campus, dubbed Project Hazelnut. NorthPoint’s proposal to Hazle Township was a $165 million investment in the area, which beyond the payout for “eligible households” in the township’s 4,500-property township, also included funding for a local police department, according to the letter to residents viewed by Fortune.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report the $10,000 incentive, which would only be paid once the first building of the data center campus is complete, and which was largely rejected by the township’s residents.

In their efforts to combat Project Hazelnut, locals told Fortune they’ve discovered just how large these efforts extend, potentially to Amazon, whose name is conspicuously absent from all Hazelnut and NorthPoint branding. 

Local officials and NorthPoint refused to confirm if Amazon would be Hazelnut’s end-user, but locals began filing right-to-know requests and confirmed Amazon’s role in the project when records were released in January between Amazon and the Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development. 

The emails, viewed by Fortune and previously reported on by local outlets, showed that while state officials tried to disclose Amazon’s role in the project, Amazon wanted its involvement to be covert due to broad “contractual issues.” 

An Amazon spokesperson told Fortune the company is “evaluating multiple sites across the Commonwealth” and is in discussions with NorthPoint, but does not have a definitive agreement in place. In a blog post published on Friday, Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman said the company has committed to no longer entering into nondisclosure agreements with government agencies related to data-center projects.

Beyond being frustrated with the secrecy, locals said they were baffled by the lack of specifics and clarity the stakeholders had about the project, per the records.

“We really had no idea what was happening,” Cook told Fortune, “and a hyperscaler data center of what they’re proposing—1,300 acres—is not a small project. We’ve been trying to get information, and unfortunately, the only way we’ve been able to get it is by right-to-know requests.”

NorthPoint did........

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