Right to Know emails outed PA government’s Amazon Web Services coverup by Governor Josh Shapiro administration senior officials regarding Project Hazelnut in Luzerne County Pennsylvania.
Video with visual aids, screenshots with text narrative used in the video, text only transcript, link to apple podcasts audio only, link to youtube video version, RSS feed, RTK email trove pdf files, and various references: https://chloehumbert.substack.com/p/project-hazelnut
References & Transcript:
I’m Chloe Humbert and this is a reading of emails between the top-level government officials in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania state government and AWS Amazon Web Services showing a cover-up around planned Project Hazelnut data center development project. It demonstrates that We have a bunch of people who are supposed to be doing the people’s work, but who are on both sides of a public private partnership and are using thoroughly discredited trickle down economics arguments in order to to facilitate industry interests with government resources and government money at our expense. We have these emails because of Right To-Know requests done by the Concerned Citizens of Montour County. I wanted to go over these emails in chronological order, and I think there needs to be some kind of accountability for Governor Josh Shapiro because this is a problem.
So the first one I’m looking at here is from February 20th, 2025. And it is from Merle Madrid.
It says, quote, Sam, hope you’re well. Following up on Will’s outreach, my colleague And I are hoping to participate in the March 12 working group. Ray leads AWS’s energy public policy for the eastern US, and I am our public policy senior manager for the region. I know there are other AWS folks keen to attend as well, but imagine there may be some space constraints. So would love to have Ray and I there at a minimum. appreciate your consideration very much Merle unquote so AWS is Amazon Web Services
Merle Madrid is the principal Amazon Web Services public policy according to his LinkedIn uh it says he’s been with AWS for um over four years. Before that, he was a chief of staff for the Ohio Secretary of State. He also worked as VP External Affairs UnitedHealth Group in 2017 and 2018. And before that, he worked for Ohio Governor John Kasich. He was a Republican governor of Ohio back then in 2017.
Ray Fakhoury is of Amazon Web Services. His LinkedIn says Policy Advisor and Government Relations Strategist.
And Sam Robinson, who the email is addressed to, is the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Office of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.
This is a reply to Merle Madrid from Samuel Robinson and it is also dated February 20th 2025 the subject line reads bolting into action working session the email says quote thanks for reaching out Merle will connect with the folks that have been most directly involved in planning this convening and ask them to add you. Look forward to seeing you there. Sam unquote.
This was also cc’d to Will Dando. And all I could find on Will Dando was a LinkedIn for Allegheny Strategy Partners, describes himself as a policy expert, and has worked in the past as Director of Government Relations, Pennsylvania Coal Alliance.
So the next email... is from Rick Siger, who is the head of DCED, Department of Community and Economic Development. The DCED is described as having the role, quote, to advance and facilitate industry, unquote.
Secretary Rick Siger of the DCED is simultaneously on the board of directors of Team Pennsylvania Foundation.
The Team Pennsylvania Foundation’s website on the front page links to an executive order issued by Governor of Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro declaring a public-private partnership with Team Pennsylvania Foundation.
Governor Josh Shapiro is simultaneously the co-chair on the board of directors of Team Pennsylvania Foundation. So both Governor Josh Shapiro and Rick Seiger of the DCED are both also on Team Pennsylvania Foundation’s Board of Directors.
And Team Pennsylvania CEO Abby Smith is also simultaneously on the board of directors of AI Strike Team, which is fiscally sponsored by Team Pennsylvania Foundation.
AI Strike Team’s website describes the organization as industry led to advance AI leadership and for catalytic action for the AI industry in Pennsylvania especially in Pittsburgh.
This email from Rick Seiger is going to Ben Kirshner. According to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government website, quote, Benjamin Kirshner serves as the inaugural Chief Transformation and Opportunity Officer for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania unquote. And then it goes on to say that, quote, Prior to his current role, Mr. Kirshner founded Elite SEM in 2004, which later became Tinuiti, an esteemed leader in digital performance marketing. The Tinuiti LinkedIn page says it’s, quote, Largest independent full-funnel marketing agency in the U.S. across the media that matters most, unquote.
According to a report in PR Newswire from 2022, quote, Tinuiti, the first independent U.S. agency to earn TikTok’s campaign management badge is uniquely positioned to help brands utilize influencers across the entire customer journey. Through its deep suite of media capabilities, exclusive partnerships, and proprietary tech stack. This unique breadth of in-house tools allows for better strategy and tactical activation across the entire funnel to accelerate performance outcomes within a client’s larger media mix. Tinuiti drives multi-channel distribution plans beyond the post, pushing out Influencer campaigns into Paid Social, OTT, Programmatic, websites, and more. Unquote.
So this basically refers to all the PR pushes you see out on social media. This is the kind of company that orchestrates and the coordination of the influencers and the social media ops and all of that.
And so the guy behind this company is Pennsylvania State Government’s chief transformation and opportunity officer.
Also on this email, CC’d, is David Wade, who is Chief of Staff for the Transformation and Opportunity Whatever. David Wade previously worked for the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. It looks like it was during Josh Shapiro’s time as PA AG. And he worked for Shapiro for Pennsylvania, which would have been Josh Shapiro’s campaign. and in 2015 it lists him as a consultant to ASGK Public Strategies this is all from his LinkedIn and before that was a consultant for TechnoServe so that is David Wade
the email is also going to Brian Ross PA DCED Director Business PA and also Becky Ford at Amazon Web Services Becky Ford’s LinkedIn says Global Infrastructure Expansion at Amazon Web Services AWS.
So the email from Rick Siger to Ben Kirshner, David Wade, Samuel Robinson, Brian Ross, Becky Ford is dated April 1st, 2025 And the subject reads... Permitting Connect PA AWS Hi folks, I write today to connect the PA permit team with Becky Ford from AWS to move our work forward in advance of April 18th. Becky and I have spoken and I’ve also I’ve also filled in Ben and Sam Robinson on the path forward. The goal here is to identify a specific list of issues for the OTO team to tackle with an eye on the April 18th deadline as a date for meaningful progress. I’ve also included Sam here because we discussed energy siting and speed issues as well as Brian Ross, who is all things on this project. Becky mentioned she could have her infrastructure team ready for a discussion on this topic Wednesday or Thursday. I know the PA team is standing by to support. All best. Rick. Rick Siger Secretary Department of Community and Economic Development. Unquote.
The next email is from Ben Kirshner to David Wade, Samuel Robinson, Brian Ross, and Becky Ford. That’s dated April 1st, 2025, and it says, quote, Great, David will try to connect and help coordinate a call with AWS and us, me, you and Sam, Ben Kirshner, unquote.
The next email is from David Wade, same day, very soon after that, talking about setting up a time to get a meeting together in April.
This goes on in another email from a couple days later that’s included in the Right to Know emails. So it looks like they’re trying to set up a meeting in April of 2025.
There’s a response from Becky Ford on April 3rd, 2025. Quote, thank you, I was just drafting a response with the same request. Adding in my colleague Liz Graham, AWS Technical Program Management, unquote.
And then on April 25th, 2025. There’s an email from Ben Kirshner of Transformation & Opportunity to Becky Ford at AWS and Rick Siger of the DCED. It has a pdf attached AWS permitting memo. The pdf file name. And the subject reads Commonwealth of Pennsylvania memo and joint agency commitment letter.
And it reads from Benjamin Kirshner, quote Dear Becky, on behalf of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, I am pleased to share the attached memo detailing the enhanced permit coordination framework established specifically for Amazon Web Services, AWS, development projects within Pennsylvania. Additionally, included is a formal letter of commitment signed by the secretaries of each state agency involved in the permitting process. Leadership at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, D.E.P. Recently engaged with Brian from our PA DEP, reaffirming the Commonwealth firm commitment to partnership and collaborative engagement, a commitment enthusiastically reciprocated by DEP. As always, DEP’s mission remains clear, rigorous protection of Pennsylvania’s environment coupled with prompt, reliable communication and permit coordination. Respectfully, Ben Kirshner, Chief Transformation Officer. Unquote.
So then there is a letter and this memo has the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania governor seal at the top It’s dated April 25th, 2025. The formatting is bad because it looks like what they did is took a PDF and OCR processed it to make it searchable with text, but then instead of keeping the original visual layer, they kept the OCR layer so it looks all mashed up and it has incorrect errors on it. But I’ll try to read it here. The top says Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Economic Development strategy group. 4/25/2025. Quote Dear Prasad Roger and Becky, As members of the Commonwealth’s Economic development strategy group we write to express our shared commitment to the timely review and delivery of all permits required for Amazon Data Services Incorporated. ASDI development projects in Pennsylvania. We recognize that these projects represent one of the largest strategic infrastructure investments in the Commonwealth and are vital to our state’s long-term competitiveness, economic resilience, and technology leadership. From land development and environmental approvals to air, water, and transportation related permits, ADSI’s success depends on coordinated, responsive government at all levels. To end that, we reaffirm our support for the Office of Transformation and Opportunity (OTO) as the centralized coordination entity for interagency permitting. OTO serves as our shared point of alignment, ensuring consistent communication, issue escalation, and timeline tracking across departments. By channeling ADSI’s permitting needs through OTO, we are collectively positioned to eliminate redundancy, improve transparency, and accelerate delivery while maintaining regulatory integrity. Each of our agencies is actively engaged in advancing the specific permits ADSI requires whether that involves Chapter 102 105 reviews, Air Quality Plan Approvals, Act 537 coordination, or Transportation related approvals. We are fully committed to providing the highest levels of service, accountability, and urgency to meet project needs and ensure ADSI receives timely, predictable outcomes.
Sincerely, Jessica Shirley Acting Secretary Department of Environmental Protection Michael Carroll Secretary Department of Transportation Frederick Siger Secretary Department of Community and Economic Development Reginald B. McNeil II Secretary Department of General Services Russell Redding Secretary Department of Agriculture Nancy A. Walker Secretary Department of Labor and Industry Unquote
So this was apparently a follow-up of the memorandum, which is included completely. And like it’s many pages long, this memorandum. I’m not going to read the whole thing. But at the top, it says it’s subject to an NDA as of February 2024. So this is a memorandum that was subject to a non-disclosure agreement.
Now, a Heatmap reporter, I have to imagine, tried and failed to get any information from the Governor Josh Shapiro’s office about the NDAs for their story. Their story only just includes this statement about, says, quote, Rosie Lapowsky, Shapiro’s press secretary, confirmed in a statement to me that the administration had given Amazon advance notice of the SPEED program and offered to help it navigate the permitting process, but said that AWS has not so far used the program for any projects, unquote.
So this memorandum has the Office of the Governor seal at the top. The title says, Upcoming Permit Improvement Outline to AWS Economic Development and Infrastructure Teams from Ben Kirshner, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Chief Transformation and Opportunity Officer, date 4-24-2025. Subject Permit Acceleration Coordination and Risk Mitigation Framework for AWS in Pennsylvania. And it says, quote, this memorandum is subject to a nondisclosure agreement dated effective as of February 15th, 2024. Section 1. Purpose. Quote, This memorandum outlines the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s comprehensive approach to permit, coordination, acceleration, and risk mitigation to support AWS’s current and future development interests across the state. It builds on existing initiatives led by the Office of Transformation & Opportunity (OTO) and includes new 2025 enhancements to DEP systems, project governance, and pre-development services. Unquote.
So then if If you go down, it lists all the agencies that are involved, the heads of which signed that memo, and it says, this group meets regularly to ensure that major projects like those proposed by AWS receive timely attention, interagency alignment, and high-level executive oversight, unquote.
And then it says key advantages for AWS. I mean, it’s saying key advantages for AWS. Quote, the major projects office will be fully integrated into OTO’s fast track workflow and aligned with AWS project delivery needs and serve as a single permitting hub for erosion and sedimentation and water encroachment impacts permitting. Exclusive early access to the SPEED program, unquote. So this specifically names, it’s saying the permitting reform efforts, the Commonwealth is offering AWS, exclusive early access, on and on.
So then it goes down to part seven, site specific update. So quote one, Hazelnut site, North Point as developer. The Hazelnut project is live on Pennsylvania’s Fast Track program through the Office of Transformation and Opportunity, OTO. Progress is strong and the majority of permits are tracking on schedule. Current status, all submitted permits are on track with air quality and storage tank permits awaiting submission by AWS. unquote. So This goes on to, you know, detail how AWS is involved at the Hazelnut site. This was, you know, something that was subject to a non-disclosure agreement. And this was, this was something that was, and this is from April 2025. It also mentions the Falls Township site with North Point as developer. And in that case, it says AWS has not submitted the application yet, but plans to do so by the end of April 2025. So then we go down. This is a long document, and it says the Salem Township site, AWS as the developer. And then if we go down to emerging site exploration and due diligence, quote. AWS is also evaluating other potential sites for future development. OTO has already engaged in early-stage support. So then it mentions Kline Township, quote, this site has been mentioned by AWS, but no activity or outreach has been initiated to date, unquote. And then Philadelphia, quote, Bellwether District is under consideration, but no permitting discussions have occurred due to the impending Peco power study, which is expected next week, unquote.
So this memorandum ends with, quote, we look forward to finalizing early permitting engagement, SPEED plus fast track onboarding, delivering the PHL 100 debrief, hosting the AWS permitting roadmap call, continuing weekly coordination with your economic development team. Should AWS have additional ideas to further enhance trust and certainty, we welcome that discussion and are ready to adapt to your needs. Sincerely, Ben Kirshner. Unquote. So that was in April 2025.
So now we’re going to go to an email exchange thread from June 2025, two months later. The first email is from a reporter named Ethan Dodd who worked covering Pennsylvania news with various outlets and he identifies himself in this email as writing about data centers for Real Clear Pennsylvania and he did in fact publish an article on data centers in Pennsylvania on Real Clear Pennsylvania in July 2025 and I’ll go over that after looking at these emails. The email is sent from Ethan Dodd, the reporter, to Simone Griffin who works at Amazon. This is mostly inferred by context. Now if you’re wondering... and you should wonder up front okay so how is this reporter’s email to an Amazon Web Services person winding up in a Right to Know request for the state government and that will become clear because it’s forwarded by AWS employees to employees in senior positions in Pennsylvania state government so I’m going to read through these in order to give a chronological order to the emails so Here’s the email from Ethan Dodd to Simone Griffin. Dated Monday, June 23, 2025 at 1118 a.m. Quote, Hi Simone, I’m writing about data centers for Real Clear Pennsylvania and had some questions. Governor Shapiro’s office thought you would be best to answer these It sounds like Amazon’s Project Hazelnut is going to be huge, promising 900 permanent jobs. Can you help me explain how you arrived at this number? Will there be 900 full-time employees at the data center campus when it’s up and running? Are some of these indirect or induced jobs? Did Amazon help select the site in Humboldt Industrial Park for NorthPoint, the developer? Is Amazon working with PPL to build out transmission lines and get power from Susquehanna Steam Electric Station? I’m curious how the center will meet its electricity needs and access water for cooling. Amazon announced a $20 billion investment, creating 1,250 jobs in data center campuses. Are those numbers specific to the campuses in Salem and Falls Township, or do those numbers extend to future Amazon data center campuses to be built across Pennsylvania? How many campuses are being planned in the state? And again, how did you arrive at these jobs numbers? What will the projected tax payments be for Project Hazelnut and the two other Amazon sites? County and state if possible. Are these going to be 100 megawatt data centers? How much power will these campuses require? What factors were most important when choosing to locate data center campuses in Pennsylvania? Did Governor Josh Shapiro’s fast track permitting program help decide on the state? Would you like to answer these questions by phone? Can you answer these before 5pm today? Thank you so much, Ethan. Unquote.
There’s also a follow-up email from Ethan Dodd to Simone Griffin. Quote, I should add for the 900 permanent jobs from Project Hazelnut. What are the specific job roles to be created? What are the expected salaries for these roles? Same question for the 1,250 jobs promised with the $20 billion investment. Thanks, Ethan. Unquote.
So, yeah. And about those job numbers, there was a recent Food & Water Watch report going through the tech industry’s data center employment claims. And, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it’s unclear. I mean, they do find out where they got the numbers, and they’re questionable. But moving along,
The next email is Simone Griffin forwarding this email from the reporter Ethan Dodd and sending it with an email to Duncan Neasham, Preston Grisham, and Matt Hurst. All three of these people worked for Amazon. Matt Hurst, it appears, has moved on to other things since 2025, and he was not copied on any of the other emails we get to see,I don’t think, so we’ll just look at the two other people who are in the other emails. According to Duncan Neasham’s LinkedIn, he’s with Amazon since 2022. Public Policy Communications Trust and Reputation. His About says, quote, An articulate on and off record spokesperson and skilled writer recognized for developing effective communications strategies and cultivating working relationships with members of the media. Unquote. Then there’s Preston Grisham, who has a LinkedIn that says, lead U.S. policy communications public affairs for Amazon since 2022.
So this email, it’s all internal to AWS at this point, and we’re just seeing it attached to other emails that wind up with state government officials.
So this is the email from Simone Griffin to Duncan Neasham and Preston Grisham. Date it Monday, June 23, 2025 at 12.08 p.m. Quote, Hi, I hope all is well. I’ve received the inquiry below from a writer with Real Clear Pennsylvania regarding Amazon’s data center infrastructure expansion efforts in Pennsylvania, along with our recent 20 billion investment announcement on June 9th. The writer is inquiring about Project Hazelnut and claims that Governor Josh Shapiro’s office directed him to speak with Amazon for a response. I’ve highlighted the sections that deal with Project Hazelnut and I’m seeking insight from the Policy Comms team on any information that has been communicated to Governor Shapiro’s office regarding Amazon infrastructure projects, including Project Hazelnut. For the highlighted section, I plan to share our About Amazon blog post on the $20 billion investment to answer his questions, along with our approved Pennsylvania announcement messaging. Please provide more details about Project Hazelnut, ideally by 2 PM ET today, 6/23. I look forward to hearing back from you. Simone Unquote. And then Ethan Dodd’s emails are attached.
The next email we get to see is Preston Grisham forwarding this email from Simone Griffin and emailing Becky Ford and copying Merle Madrid and Duncan Neasham on it. So here’s the email from Preston, dated Monday, June 23rd, 2025, 1248 pm. Quote, Becky and Merle. Please see the media inquiry below as it relates to Project Hazelnut, in quotations. Duncan and I are not familiar with this and not sure what has been communicated to the governor’s office. It appears from the inquiry and the fact that the governor’s office has directed the reporter to Amazon for more details they may have outed us on a project. Welcome any additional context here. Unquote. So then it looks it sounds like do they not I don’t know if Preston Grisham it sounds like Preston Grisham doesn’t know about all these fast track coordination deep coordination it’s not public that Project Hazelnut that AWS is behind Project Hazelnut So Preston Grisham is then going to Becky Ford about this.
So then Becky Ford turns around and emails Rick Siger and Ben Kirshner, forwards all of this to Rick Siger and Ben Kirshner, and that’s how it ends up in The Right To Know request emails. The email from Becky Ford to Rick Siger and Ben Kirshner is dated Monday, June 23, 2025 at 1.26 p.m. Quote, Rick, Ben, please see the inquiry below. Would it be possible to understand who from the governor’s office may have directed the reporter to contact our team? This was not one of two sites disclosed. Becky, unquote.
So then there’s a reply from Rick Siger, June 23, 2025 at 2.09 p.m. to Becky Ford and Ben Kirshner, quote, This is news to me. We’ll check into it ASAP, unquote.
Then there’s another email from Rick Siger to Becky Ford and Ben Kirshner, Monday, June 23, 2025, 2.18 p.m., quote, Reading this again, It’s very possible the reporter made an inquiry about Hazelnut and we didn’t comment, but I will run this down. Back to you shortly. Unquote.
And then there’s, again, Rick Siger emailing at 621 p.m. same day to Becky Ford and Ben Kirshner. Quote, Hi, Becky. Closing this loop. Earlier today, Rosie from our press team connected with Preston and I. Believe we are all good. If not, let me know and we’ll get it right. In talking to the team, we absolutely did not confirm or discuss anything about AWS and Hazelnut. We did many months ago talk about Hazelnut as part of the Fast Track program, and this reporter, I believe, was following up on that story. It also seems folks in Luzerne County are speculating about AWS at Hazelnut, though we did not comment confirm. Looking forward to talking tomorrow. It has been too long. Best, Rick. Unquote.
So then we have a reply from Ben Kirshner, same day, in the evening, 8.25 p.m., to Rick Siger and Becky Ford. Quote, During the same inquiry, they asked us about the job number mentioned in the press release. We advised them to reach out to AWS to discuss the job numbers from that release. I believe the reporter is conflating the two questions and attempting to create a narrative. We did absolutely not tell this reporter that Northpoint was aws. Ben Kirshner, Chief Transformation Officer unquote so obviously you know the state government officials are scrambling because they’re being accused of letting the cat out of the bag and like they’re acting like you know that they were caught you know and, like, they did something wrong. Like, it’s wrong to disclose what’s happening to communities, like, and who’s doing it. And they’re acting like, you know, it was wrong to, you know, have any transparency.
It’s interesting that, you know, the Governor, Josh Shapiro, has talked about transparency, but yet they’re very, very anxious to assure Amazon Web Services that they did not disclose anything. Why are they keeping this stuff secret at all?
And it makes me think of the Pat Garofalo interview, an interview on the Overton Window podcast, the title of the podcast episode about lawmakers signing non-disclosure agreements about business subsidy negotiations and stuff.
And the podcast episode with this interview, the podcast title is a quote. If that sounds outrageous and corrupt, it’s because it is. So, yeah, apparently this is common throughout the country now, places where economic development projects use taxpayer money, and they’re shielded in secrecy, and not just power plant or data center projects. This is being done with all sorts of things. And of course without transparency, of course this leads to all kinds of backroom deals or there could be all kinds of conflicts of interest that nobody knows about because of the secrecy.
So, I did look at Ethan Dodd, the reporter from that email chain that set off the scrambling. I did look at the Real Clear Pennsylvania article from July 10th, 2025. It’s titled, AI Data Centers Meet Community Resistance in PA.
And nowhere does it say that Project Hazelnut was AWS. So, Just a quote from that article, quote, Just as the state’s fast-track permitting program makes Pennsylvania more competitive for development compared to other states, the county council negotiated a partial 10-year LERTA tax break to redevelop the land for cheap and compete with neighboring counties eager to snatch up developers.
“We need to make sure that we put as many incentives on the table as possible,” said Augustine of Penn’s Northeast, so that developers “come in and build and spend millions of dollars on speculative development to attract new businesses.” Harry Haas, the only council member who voted against the tax abatement, called it “corporate welfare.” Just as warehouses flood it into Luzerne County, so will data centers, he said, noting Project Hazelnut already has numerous tech suitors and suspects Amazon will be the winner. The spirit of the law is to spur development, but if they’re building it anyway, it’s giving money away, unquote.
And we already know, of course, from the other emails that, of course, it wasn’t just that Amazon was going to be the winner of courting this thing. They were already baked in. The state government had arranged that. It was key advantages for AWS. That’s what the memo said.
And I’m not sure why you would... I’m not sure why you would... want speculative development. Why is speculation prioritized? That sounds like gambling.
Okay, so another quote from this article, Quote, capital goes where capital is welcome, said Brian Stahl, the North Point vice president leading Project Hazelnut. Whereas other companies may seek the governor’s assistance behind the scenes, Ben Kirshner, who developed the PA Fast Track program in the newly created Office of Transformation and Opportunity, commended NorthPoint for participating and sharing their accelerated permitting timeline through a public dashboard. They don’t have to do it. They want to do it because they want that extra accountability and transparency for the community, Kirshner told me. But many residents still have questions as they face the twin threats of data center-driven power lines and eminent domain in Greater Hazleton’s Conyngham Valley, an Eden of rolling hills and rural townships that has largely been spared from industrial eyesores – until now. Unquote. So that’s really galling that Ben Kirshner was being quoted. They don’t have to do it. They want to do it because they want that extra accountability and transparency for the community. That’s what he’s saying.
Extra transparency all the while that they were fast tracking Amazon and signing non-disclosure agreements and keeping that Amazon’s involvement secret. That’s the transparency. I you know it’s beyond um yeah amazing amazing going to the public and saying one thing to the media and announcing this transparency while hiding Amazon’s involvement and making it sound like they were courting many suitors like that there was going to be you know this competitive to get the best deal for Project Hazelnut or something when all the time it was already locked up by Amazon Web Services with the help of key leaders and key agency officials in Pennsylvania state government. And while Josh Shapiro has been promoting transparency, AWS was using North Point and AWS was engaged in the whole process.
And then there was this, there were a whole bunch of emails in August 2025 where Amazon was holding a junket, they hosted a junket to go see a data center in, I think, Virginia,
and they had two days of presentations about about AI and stuff with PA state government officials, including higher education and community colleges to try to push AI into community colleges. So those are in the emails too.
But just sticking to the Project Hazelnut issue, we jump ahead and the next email that we see related is... A message, it was an email from Rick Siger to Becky Ford, Will Simons, Kayla Anderson, Justin Backover, Penny Ikes, Brian Ross, Daniel Okai, Amanda Warren, and David Wade. So this email from Rick Siger is dated Monday, October 6, 2025, 1245 p.m. Quote, Hi, Becky. I hope you are well and looking forward to seeing you in Berwick later this week. As discussed late last week, I’m connecting you here with a cast of many from the PA side to begin coordination on announcement planning. Specifically, I learned from our team today that we’d like to suggest October 17 as an option. Is there a specific driver for this date? Of course, please loop in the key folks from your team who are most relevant to this effort as well. For our internal team, here is the status of our core messages (subject of course Becky to your feedback) One, we will be announcing the next two sites in AWS’ innovation campus build out in PA - one in Kline Township, Schuylkill County, and one in Hazle Township, Luzerne County (also known as project Hazelnut, an OTO fast-track project). These will be positioned as additional sites to fulfill the initial $20 billion, 1,250 job commitment announced in June. One on the AWS side, in addition to the two new locations you are prepared to announce. a progress report on our June announcement including permanent and construction jobs created capital invested tax revenues realized at the state and local level and indirect impacts we currently have estimated AWS jobs 2025 payroll and capital investment for Salem Township and Falls Township sites (I do not have permission to disclose, approval is not guaranteed and may require additional time). I have estimates on local property tax, but we would need to work together on other tax revenue (ex. local wage tax, transfer tax, sales and use tax not exempt under CDC program, etc.) A new reclaimed water system to be deployed specifically at Hazle (AWS can elaborate further), which saves energy and water; Yes, we can discuss on the call. A.W.S. will provide funding for a new water line in Beach Haven, Salem Township to provide 100-plus residents with potable water. Many are currently using unsafe wells. Within the next 30 days, A.W.S. will release a five million Community Benefit Payment to Salem Township as part of our CBA. Similar community benefit agreements have been negotiated with Kline Township and Hazel Township (the CBAs are not public yet) And, a set of community-focused investments in Hazleton area, similar to those announced at June event in Berwick. We have a list of organizations that applied for and received grant funds from our community investment fund announced in June. The recipient organizations are located in Luzerne, Columbia, and Bucks County. On the PA side, we would ideally like to be prepared to announce $10 million in investments into workforce partners, We have first announced at the Salem Township site. This will require some rapid work over the next couple of weeks to land a comprehensive plan. Tentative. Ongoing progress regarding partnerships between PA’s research universities, and AWS to make cutting-edge compute available to PA-based researchers and startups. That’s all for now. I hope this helps rekindle the excellent collaboration we saw between our teams for the first announcement. We are grateful for the continued investment! (Exclamation point) Best, Rick! Unquote. Grateful. Rick Siger of DCED is grateful to Becky Ford at AWS.
So here’s the reply from Becky Ford to Rick Siger and CC’d on all the aforementioned people. Quote, Merle and Preston, thank you. I made a few notes in red below. Would it be possible to confirm if the request is for a press release only or an organized event? As mentioned in our previous conversation, there are a few contractual issues that determine our timeline for public announcement. We should definitely get on a call to keep working the details. I will have an update on timeline by 12 p.m. tomorrow. Kind regards, Becky. Unquote.
So now the questions in red are in the message from Rick Siger that we can see because it was included in her reply. And the parts that were in red were... The suggestion of October 17th, is there a specific driver for this date? And then the parts about the payroll investment for Salem Township and the local property taxes, and then all the parts about the new water. line and the community benefits agreements and the list of organizations that applied for and received grants. So that was all in red in that email that Becky Ford was replying to.
Then we have a message dated October 7th, 2025 at 8.15pm from Rick Siger to Becky Ford and copied on a bunch of people quote hi Becky thanks so much for getting back and sorry for a delayed response after a long day the request is for an in-person event ideally at one of the sites I am partial to Hazelnut given its larger and fast track site I’ll Let my governor’s office colleagues chime in on the October 17 date. And of course, we understand there continue to be active conversations that will impact timing. To get a call on the books, I’m adding the great Kara Ruby. Let’s try to find 30 minutes this week to advance the conversation. Best, Rick Unquote.
So then there’s a reply from Becky Ford to Rick Siger, October 7th, 9.58pm, quote, Hi Rick, thank you, two updates on my end, We had very productive meetings with SRBC today and anticipate having additional water stories partnerships to include. And, business teams confirmed we need to focus on November timeframe due to Hazelnut contractual agreement finalization and execution. Looking forward to seeing you later this week! Kind regards Becky Unquote. And we don’t know anything more about that. They were slated to made up. that that’s where in Berwick where there’s a another project happening near the nuclear power plant
so then we fast forward to November 11th an email from David Wade to Ben Kirshner and Rick Siger Brian Ross and a few other people subject Project Hazelnut quote all the land development project for Project Hazelnut was tabled last night by the township it’s unclear if this is just being put on temporary hold or if the public opposition is pushing the local supervisors to rethink their support. North Point expects to hear more from the township later today, and I’ll pass on whatever info they get about next steps. Thanks, Dave, unquote. And it includes a news report. The linked article that David Wade so casually links to and refers to...
The article details exactly why there’s public opposition quite clearly. That article, dated November 10th, says, quote, residents living near the proposed North Point data center say the peace and quiet of their Eagle Rock neighborhood has already been disrupted. I’m upset and appalled that you would even consider this because everyone knows. If you say yes, the whole area is going to be done, Hazel Township resident Doreen Cherenyock explained. Neighbors describe bright lights grinding and banging through the night, even though the township ordinance bans overnight operations between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., unquote.
And Food & Water Watch reported on November 18, 2025. Headline says Hazel Township PA unanimously rejects data center campus. As Shapiro pushes data centers, communities increasingly say no. The article says... Quote. On Friday, following substantial public outcry from a packed room of more than 200 residents The Hazel Township Board of Supervisors unanimously rejected a land application that would have enabled construction of the Project Hazelnut Data Center campus proposed by Northpoint Development. Unquote.
And it was after that it was revealed then that Amazon was behind this and that they were facilitated by the Pennsylvania state government. On the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania website, Project Hazelnut still has a status in progress.
and there was a report in from February 17th, 2026 from Fox 56 Wolf that says that the headline reads DEP holds public hearing on Project Hazelnut as NorthPoint Appeal remains in court. Quote, the debate over a proposed 1,200-acre data center campus in Hazel Township continues. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection held a public hearing on Project Hazelnut, even as the developer appeals the township supervisor’s earlier denial of land development approval. Back in November, Hazel Township supervisors denied land development approval for Project Hazelnut. The developer, NorthPoint Development, has since appealed that decision in court, but the permitting process continues.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection scheduled four hours for the meeting as it reviews two key permits tied to the 1,282-acre proposal north of the Humboldt Industrial Park. Project Hazelnut has been described as a transformative technology campus featuring 15 data center buildings. It was fast-tracked under an economic development initiative introduced by Governor Josh Shapiro back in November 2024. Northpoint executives emphasized transparency. We believe that this project represents a significant opportunity for responsible and economic growth within the Hazleton area, and we’re dedicated to ensuring the success in the community. We appreciate this opportunity to answer questions, said Brian Stahl, Vice President Development, NorthPoint Development. Unquote. And nowhere in here does it say anything about Amazon.
Nothing in this hearing was reported about Amazon at all, of course. And later in the article, a resident, Christine Gardner, is quoted as saying, it seems like this project is moving forward regardless. Has something changed or something happened with the appeal? And it says, quote, Northpoint responded that the appeal of the supervisors’ denial is still in progress but the DEP permitting process is separate and continuing as allowed under state law. And so there you have it. You know, it’s an obvious cover-up. And... The transparency that they keep talking about just doesn’t exist. And I think questions need to be asked, more questions need to be answered by government officials and people in elected representative positions.
I’m Chloe Humbert and this is a reading of emails between the top-level government officials in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania state government and AWS Amazon Web Services showing a cover-up around planned Project Hazelnut data center development project. It demonstrates that We have a bunch of people who are supposed to be doing the people’s work, but who are on both sides of a public private partnership and are using thoroughly discredited trickle down economics arguments in order to to facilitate industry interests with government resources and government money at our expense. We have these emails because of Right To-Know requests done by the Concerned Citizens of Montour County. I wanted to go over these emails in chronological order, and I think there needs to be some kind of accountability for Governor Josh Shapiro because this is a problem. So the first one I’m looking at here is from February 20th, 2025. And it is from Merle Madrid. It says, quote, Sam, hope you’re well. Following up on Will’s outreach, my colleague And I are hoping to participate in the March 12 working group. Ray leads AWS’s energy public policy for the eastern US, and I am our public policy senior manager for the region. I know there are other AWS folks keen to attend as well, but imagine there may be some space constraints. So would love to have Ray and I there at a minimum. appreciate your consideration very much Merle unquote so AWS is Amazon Web Services Merle Madrid is the principal Amazon Web Services public policy according to his LinkedIn uh it says he’s been with AWS for um over four years. Before that, he was a chief of staff for the Ohio Secretary of State. He also worked as VP External Affairs UnitedHealth Group in 2017 and 2018. And before that, he worked for Ohio Governor John Kasich. He was a Republican governor of Ohio back then in 2017. Ray Fakhoury is of Amazon Web Services. His LinkedIn says Policy Advisor and Government Relations Strategist. And Sam Robinson, who the email is addressed to, is the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Office of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. This is a reply to Merle Madrid from Samuel Robinson and it is also dated February 20th 2025 the subject line reads bolting into action working session the email says quote thanks for reaching out Merle will connect with the folks that have been most directly involved in planning this convening and ask them to add you. Look forward to seeing you there. Sam unquote. This was also cc’d to Will Dando. And all I could find on Will Dando was a LinkedIn for Allegheny Strategy Partners, describes himself as a policy expert, and has worked in the past as Director of Government Relations, Pennsylvania Coal Alliance. So the next email... is from Rick Siger, who is the head of DCED, Department of Community and Economic Development. The DCED is described as having the role, quote, to advance and facilitate industry, unquote. Secretary Rick Siger of the DCED is simultaneously on the board of directors of Team Pennsylvania Foundation. The Team Pennsylvania Foundation’s website on the front page links to an executive order issued by Governor of Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro declaring a public-private partnership with Team Pennsylvania Foundation. Governor Josh Shapiro is simultaneously the co-chair on the board of directors of Team Pennsylvania Foundation. So both Governor Josh Shapiro and Rick Seiger of the DCED are both also on Team Pennsylvania Foundation’s Board of Directors. And Team Pennsylvania CEO Abby Smith is also simultaneously on the board of directors of AI Strike Team, which is fiscally sponsored by Team Pennsylvania Foundation. AI Strike Team’s website describes the organization as industry led to advance AI leadership and for catalytic action for the AI industry in Pennsylvania especially in Pittsburgh. This email from Rick Seiger is going to Ben Kirshner. According to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government website, quote, Benjamin Kirshner serves as the inaugural Chief Transformation and Opportunity Officer for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania unquote. And then it goes on to say that, quote, Prior to his current role, Mr. Kirshner founded Elite SEM in 2004, which later became Tinuiti, an esteemed leader in digital performance marketing. The Tinuiti LinkedIn page says it’s, quote, Largest independent full-funnel marketing agency in the U.S. across the media that matters most, unquote. According to a report in PR Newswire from 2022, quote, Tinuiti, the first independent U.S. agency to earn TikTok’s campaign management badge is uniquely positioned to help brands utilize influencers across the entire customer journey. Through its deep suite of media capabilities, exclusive partnerships, and proprietary tech stack. This unique breadth of in-house tools allows for better strategy and tactical activation across the entire funnel to accelerate performance outcomes within a client’s larger media mix. Tinuiti drives multi-channel distribution plans beyond the post, pushing out Influencer campaigns into Paid Social, OTT, Programmatic, websites, and more. Unquote. So this basically refers to all the PR pushes you see out on social media. This is the kind of company that orchestrates and the coordination of the influencers and the social media ops and all of that. And so the guy behind this company is Pennsylvania State Government’s chief transformation and opportunity officer. Also on this email, CC’d, is David Wade, who is Chief of Staff for the Transformation and Opportunity Whatever. David Wade previously worked for the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. It looks like it was during Josh Shapiro’s time as PA AG. And he worked for Shapiro for Pennsylvania, which would have been Josh Shapiro’s campaign. and in 2015 it lists him as a consultant to ASGK Public Strategies this is all from his LinkedIn and before that was a consultant for TechnoServe so that is David Wade the email is also going to Brian Ross PA DCED Director Business PA and also Becky Ford at Amazon Web Services Becky Ford’s LinkedIn says Global Infrastructure Expansion at Amazon Web Services AWS. So the email from Rick Siger to Ben Kirshner, David Wade, Samuel Robinson, Brian Ross, Becky Ford is dated April 1st, 2025 And the subject reads... Permitting Connect PA AWS Hi folks, I write today to connect the PA permit team with Becky Ford from AWS to move our work forward in advance of April 18th. Becky and I have spoken and I’ve also I’ve also filled in Ben and Sam Robinson on the path forward. The goal here is to identify a specific list of issues for the OTO team to tackle with an eye on the April 18th deadline as a date for meaningful progress. I’ve also included Sam here because we discussed energy siting and speed issues as well as Brian Ross, who is all things on this project. Becky mentioned she could have her infrastructure team ready for a discussion on this topic Wednesday or Thursday. I know the PA team is standing by to support. All best. Rick. Rick Siger Secretary Department of Community and Economic Development. Unquote. The next email is from Ben Kirshner to David Wade, Samuel Robinson, Brian Ross, and Becky Ford. That’s dated April 1st, 2025, and it says, quote, Great, David will try to connect and help coordinate a call with AWS and us, me, you and Sam, Ben Kirshner, unquote. The next email is from David Wade, same day, very soon after that, talking about setting up a time to get a meeting together in April. This goes on in another email from a couple days later that’s included in the Right to Know emails. So it looks like they’re trying to set up a meeting in April of 2025. There’s a response from Becky Ford on April 3rd, 2025. Quote, thank you, I was just drafting a response with the same request. Adding in my colleague Liz Graham, AWS Technical Program Management, unquote. And then on April 25th, 2025. There’s an email from Ben Kirshner of Transformation & Opportunity to Becky Ford at AWS and Rick Siger of the DCED. It has a pdf attached AWS permitting memo. The pdf file name. And the subject reads Commonwealth of Pennsylvania memo and joint agency commitment letter. And it reads from Benjamin Kirshner, quote Dear Becky, on behalf of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, I am pleased to share the attached memo detailing the enhanced permit coordination framework established specifically for Amazon Web Services, AWS, development projects within Pennsylvania. Additionally, included is a formal letter of commitment signed by the secretaries of each state agency involved in the permitting process. Leadership at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, D.E.P. Recently engaged with Brian from our PA DEP, reaffirming the Commonwealth firm commitment to partnership and collaborative engagement, a commitment enthusiastically reciprocated by DEP. As always, DEP’s mission remains clear, rigorous protection of Pennsylvania’s environment coupled with prompt, reliable communication and permit coordination. Respectfully, Ben Kirshner, Chief Transformation Officer. Unquote. So then there is a letter and this memo has the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania governor seal at the top It’s dated April 25th, 2025. The formatting is bad because it looks like what they did is took a PDF and OCR processed it to make it searchable with text, but then instead of keeping the original visual layer, they kept the OCR layer so it looks all mashed up and it has incorrect errors on it. But I’ll try to read it here. The top says Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Economic Development strategy group. 4/25/2025. Quote Dear Prasad Roger and Becky, As members of the Commonwealth’s Economic development strategy group we write to express our shared commitment to the timely review and delivery of all permits required for Amazon Data Services Incorporated. ASDI development projects in Pennsylvania. We recognize that these projects represent one of the largest strategic infrastructure investments in the Commonwealth and are vital to our state’s long-term competitiveness, economic resilience, and technology leadership. From land development and environmental approvals to air, water, and transportation related permits, ADSI’s success depends on coordinated, responsive government at all levels. To end that, we reaffirm our support for the Office of Transformation and Opportunity (OTO) as the centralized coordination entity for interagency permitting. OTO serves as our shared point of alignment, ensuring consistent communication, issue escalation, and timeline tracking across departments. By channeling ADSI’s permitting needs through OTO, we are collectively positioned to eliminate redundancy, improve transparency, and accelerate delivery while maintaining regulatory integrity. Each of our agencies is actively engaged in advancing the specific permits ADSI requires whether that involves Chapter 102 105 reviews, Air Quality Plan Approvals, Act 537 coordination, or Transportation related approvals. We are fully committed to providing the highest levels of service, accountability, and urgency to meet project needs and ensure ADSI receives timely, predictable outcomes. Sincerely, Jessica Shirley Acting Secretary Department of Environmental Protection Michael Carroll Secretary Department of Transportation Frederick Siger Secretary Department of Community and Economic Development Reginald B. McNeil II Secretary Department of General Services Russell Redding Secretary Department of Agriculture Nancy A. Walker Secretary Department of Labor and Industry Unquote So this was apparently a follow-up of the memorandum, which is included completely. And like it’s many pages long, this memorandum. I’m not going to read the whole thing. But at the top, it says it’s subject to an NDA as of February 2024. So this is a memorandum that was subject to a non-disclosure agreement. Now, a Heatmap reporter, I have to imagine, tried and failed to get any information from the Governor Josh Shapiro’s office about the NDAs for their story. Their story only just includes this statement about, says, quote, Rosie Lapowsky, Shapiro’s press secretary, confirmed in a statement to me that the administration had given Amazon advance notice of the SPEED program and offered to help it navigate the permitting process, but said that AWS has not so far used the program for any projects, unquote. So this memorandum has the Office of the Governor seal at the top. The title says, Upcoming Permit Improvement Outline to AWS Economic Development and Infrastructure Teams from Ben Kirshner, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Chief Transformation and Opportunity Officer, date 4-24-2025. Subject Permit Acceleration Coordination and Risk Mitigation Framework for AWS in Pennsylvania. And it says, quote, this memorandum is subject to a nondisclosure agreement dated effective as of February 15th, 2024. Section 1. Purpose. Quote, This memorandum outlines the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s comprehensive approach to permit, coordination, acceleration, and risk mitigation to support AWS’s current and future development interests across the state. It builds on existing initiatives led by the Office of Transformation & Opportunity (OTO) and includes new 2025 enhancements to DEP systems, project governance, and pre-development services. Unquote. So then if If you go down, it lists all the agencies that are involved, the heads of which signed that memo, and it says, this group meets regularly to ensure that major projects like those proposed by AWS receive timely attention, interagency alignment, and high-level executive oversight, unquote. And then it says key advantages for AWS. I mean, it’s saying key advantages for AWS. Quote, the major projects office will be fully integrated into OTO’s fast track workflow and aligned with AWS project delivery needs and serve as a single permitting hub for erosion and sedimentation and water encroachment impacts permitting. Exclusive early access to the SPEED program, unquote. So this specifically names, it’s saying the permitting reform efforts, the Commonwealth is offering AWS, exclusive early access, on and on. So then it goes down to part seven, site specific update. So quote one, Hazelnut site, North Point as developer. The Hazelnut project is live on Pennsylvania’s Fast Track program through the Office of Transformation and Opportunity, OTO. Progress is strong and the majority of permits are tracking on schedule. Current status, all submitted permits are on track with air quality and storage tank permits awaiting submission by AWS. unquote. So This goes on to, you know, detail how AWS is involved at the Hazelnut site. This was, you know, something that was subject to a non-disclosure agreement. And this was, this was something that was, and this is from April 2025. It also mentions the Falls Township site with North Point as developer. And in that case, it says AWS has not submitted the application yet, but plans to do so by the end of April 2025. So then we go down. This is a long document, and it says the Salem Township site, AWS as the developer. And then if we go down to emerging site exploration and due diligence, quote. AWS is also evaluating other potential sites for future development. OTO has already engaged in early-stage support. So then it mentions Kline Township, quote, this site has been mentioned by AWS, but no activity or outreach has been initiated to date, unquote. And then Philadelphia, quote, Bellwether District is under consideration, but no permitting discussions have occurred due to the impending Peco power study, which is expected next week, unquote. So this memorandum ends with, quote, we look forward to finalizing early permitting engagement, SPEED plus fast track onboarding, delivering the PHL 100 debrief, hosting the AWS permitting roadmap call, continuing weekly coordination with your economic development team. Should AWS have additional ideas to further enhance trust and certainty, we welcome that discussion and are ready to adapt to your needs. Sincerely, Ben Kirshner. Unquote. So that was in April 2025. So now we’re going to go to an email exchange thread from June 2025, two months later. The first email is from a reporter named Ethan Dodd who worked covering Pennsylvania news with various outlets and he identifies himself in this email as writing about data centers for Real Clear Pennsylvania and he did in fact publish an article on data centers in Pennsylvania on Real Clear Pennsylvania in July 2025 and I’ll go over that after looking at these emails. The email is sent from Ethan Dodd, the reporter, to Simone Griffin who works at Amazon. This is mostly inferred by context. Now if you’re wondering... and you should wonder up front okay so how is this reporter’s email to an Amazon Web Services person winding up in a Right to Know request for the state government and that will become clear because it’s forwarded by AWS employees to employees in senior positions in Pennsylvania state government so I’m going to read through these in order to give a chronological order to the emails so Here’s the email from Ethan Dodd to Simone Griffin. Dated Monday, June 23, 2025 at 1118 a.m. Quote, Hi Simone, I’m writing about data centers for Real Clear Pennsylvania and had some questions. Governor Shapiro’s office thought you would be best to answer these It sounds like Amazon’s Project Hazelnut is going to be huge, promising 900 permanent jobs. Can you help me explain how you arrived at this number? Will there be 900 full-time employees at the data center campus when it’s up and running? Are some of these indirect or induced jobs? Did Amazon help select the site in Humboldt Industrial Park for NorthPoint, the developer? Is Amazon working with PPL to build out transmission lines and get power from Susquehanna Steam Electric Station? I’m curious how the center will meet its electricity needs and access water for cooling. Amazon announced a $20 billion investment, creating 1,250 jobs in data center campuses. Are those numbers specific to the campuses in Salem and Falls Township, or do those numbers extend to future Amazon data center campuses to be built across Pennsylvania? How many campuses are being planned in the state? And again, how did you arrive at these jobs numbers? What will the projected tax payments be for Project Hazelnut and the two other Amazon sites? County and state if possible. Are these going to be 100 megawatt data centers? How much power will these campuses require? What factors were most important when choosing to locate data center campuses in Pennsylvania? Did Governor Josh Shapiro’s fast track permitting program help decide on the state? Would you like to answer these questions by phone? Can you answer these before 5pm today? Thank you so much, Ethan. Unquote. There’s also a follow-up email from Ethan Dodd to Simone Griffin. Quote, I should add for the 900 permanent jobs from Project Hazelnut. What are the specific job roles to be created? What are the expected salaries for these roles? Same question for the 1,250 jobs promised with the $20 billion investment. Thanks, Ethan. Unquote. So, yeah. And about those job numbers, there was a recent Food & Water Watch report going through the tech industry’s data center employment claims. And, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it’s unclear. I mean, they do find out where they got the numbers, and they’re questionable. But moving along, The next email is Simone Griffin forwarding this email from the reporter Ethan Dodd and sending it with an email to Duncan Neasham, Preston Grisham, and Matt Hurst. All three of these people worked for Amazon. Matt Hurst, it appears, has moved on to other things since 2025, and he was not copied on any of the other emails we get to see,I don’t think, so we’ll just look at the two other people who are in the other emails. According to Duncan Neasham’s LinkedIn, he’s with Amazon since 2022. Public Policy Communications Trust and Reputation. His About says, quote, An articulate on and off record spokesperson and skilled writer recognized for developing effective communications strategies and cultivating working relationships with members of the media. Unquote. Then there’s Preston Grisham, who has a LinkedIn that says, lead U.S. policy communications public affairs for Amazon since 2022. So this email, it’s all internal to AWS at this point, and we’re just seeing it attached to other emails that wind up with state government officials. So this is the email from Simone Griffin to Duncan Neasham and Preston Grisham. Date it Monday, June 23, 2025 at 12.08 p.m. Quote, Hi, I hope all is well. I’ve received the inquiry below from a writer with Real Clear Pennsylvania regarding Amazon’s data center infrastructure expansion efforts in Pennsylvania, along with our recent 20 billion investment announcement on June 9th. The writer is inquiring about Project Hazelnut and claims that Governor Josh Shapiro’s office directed him to speak with Amazon for a response. I’ve highlighted the sections that deal with Project Hazelnut and I’m seeking insight from the Policy Comms team on any information that has been communicated to Governor Shapiro’s office regarding Amazon infrastructure projects, including Project Hazelnut. For the highlighted section, I plan to share our About Amazon blog post on the $20 billion investment to answer his questions, along with our approved Pennsylvania announcement messaging. Please provide more details about Project Hazelnut, ideally by 2 PM ET today, 6/23. I look forward to hearing back from you. Simone Unquote. And then Ethan Dodd’s emails are attached. The next email we get to see is Preston Grisham forwarding this email from Simone Griffin and emailing Becky Ford and copying Merle Madrid and Duncan Neasham on it. So here’s the email from Preston, dated Monday, June 23rd, 2025, 1248 pm. Quote, Becky and Merle. Please see the media inquiry below as it relates to Project Hazelnut, in quotations. Duncan and I are not familiar with this and not sure what has been communicated to the governor’s office. It appears from the inquiry and the fact that the governor’s office has directed the reporter to Amazon for more details they may have outed us on a project. Welcome any additional context here. Unquote. So then it looks it sounds like do they not I don’t know if Preston Grisham it sounds like Preston Grisham doesn’t know about all these fast track coordination deep coordination it’s not public that Project Hazelnut that AWS is behind Project Hazelnut So Preston Grisham is then going to Becky Ford about this. So then Becky Ford turns around and emails Rick Siger and Ben Kirshner, forwards all of this to Rick Siger and Ben Kirshner, and that’s how it ends up in The Right To Know request emails. The email from Becky Ford to Rick Siger and Ben Kirshner is dated Monday, June 23, 2025 at 1.26 p.m. Quote, Rick, Ben, please see the inquiry below. Would it be possible to understand who from the governor’s office may have directed the reporter to contact our team? This was not one of two sites disclosed. Becky, unquote. So then there’s a reply from Rick Siger, June 23, 2025 at 2.09 p.m. to Becky Ford and Ben Kirshner, quote, This is news to me. We’ll check into it ASAP, unquote. Then there’s another email from Rick Siger to Becky Ford and Ben Kirshner, Monday, June 23, 2025, 2.18 p.m., quote, Reading this again, It’s very possible the reporter made an inquiry about Hazelnut and we didn’t comment, but I will run this down. Back to you shortly. Unquote. And then there’s, again, Rick Siger emailing at 621 p.m. same day to Becky Ford and Ben Kirshner. Quote, Hi, Becky. Closing this loop. Earlier today, Rosie from our press team connected with Preston and I. Believe we are all good. If not, let me know and we’ll get it right. In talking to the team, we absolutely did not confirm or discuss anything about AWS and Hazelnut. We did many months ago talk about Hazelnut as part of the Fast Track program, and this reporter, I believe, was following up on that story. It also seems folks in Luzerne County are speculating about AWS at Hazelnut, though we did not comment confirm. Looking forward to talking tomorrow. It has been too long. Best, Rick. Unquote. So then we have a reply from Ben Kirshner, same day, in the evening, 8.25 p.m., to Rick Siger and Becky Ford. Quote, During the same inquiry, they asked us about the job number mentioned in the press release. We advised them to reach out to AWS to discuss the job numbers from that release. I believe the reporter is conflating the two questions and attempting to create a narrative. We did absolutely not tell this reporter that Northpoint was aws. Ben Kirshner, Chief Transformation Officer unquote so obviously you know the state government officials are scrambling because they’re being accused of letting the cat out of the bag and like they’re acting like you know that they were caught you know and, like, they did something wrong. Like, it’s wrong to disclose what’s happening to communities, like, and who’s doing it. And they’re acting like, you know, it was wrong to, you know, have any transparency. It’s interesting that, you know, the Governor, Josh Shapiro, has talked about transparency, but yet they’re very, very anxious to assure Amazon Web Services that they did not disclose anything. Why are they keeping this stuff secret at all? And it makes me think of the Pat Garofalo interview, an interview on the Overton Window podcast, the title of the podcast episode about lawmakers signing non-disclosure agreements about business subsidy negotiations and stuff. And the podcast episode with this interview, the podcast title is a quote. If that sounds outrageous and corrupt, it’s because it is. So, yeah, apparently this is common throughout the country now, places where economic development projects use taxpayer money, and they’re shielded in secrecy, and not just power plant or data center projects. This is being done with all sorts of things. And of course without transparency, of course this leads to all kinds of backroom deals or there could be all kinds of conflicts of interest that nobody knows about because of the secrecy. So, I did look at Ethan Dodd, the reporter from that email chain that set off the scrambling. I did look at the Real Clear Pennsylvania article from July 10th, 2025. It’s titled, AI Data Centers Meet Community Resistance in PA. And nowhere does it say that Project Hazelnut was AWS. So, Just a quote from that article, quote, Just as the state’s fast-track permitting program makes Pennsylvania more competitive for development compared to other states, the county council negotiated a partial 10-year LERTA tax break to redevelop the land for cheap and compete with neighboring counties eager to snatch up developers. “We need to make sure that we put as many incentives on the table as possible,” said Augustine of Penn’s Northeast, so that developers “come in and build and spend millions of dollars on speculative development to attract new businesses.” Harry Haas, the only council member who voted against the tax abatement, called it “corporate welfare.” Just as warehouses flood it into Luzerne County, so will data centers, he said, noting Project Hazelnut already has numerous tech suitors and suspects Amazon will be the winner. The spirit of the law is to spur development, but if they’re building it anyway, it’s giving money away, unquote. And we already know, of course, from the other emails that, of course, it wasn’t just that Amazon was going to be the winner of courting this thing. They were already baked in. The state government had arranged that. It was key advantages for AWS. That’s what the memo said. And I’m not sure why you would... I’m not sure why you would... want speculative development. Why is speculation prioritized? That sounds like gambling. Okay, so another quote from this article, Quote, capital goes where capital is welcome, said Brian Stahl, the North Point vice president leading Project Hazelnut. Whereas other companies may seek the governor’s assistance behind the scenes, Ben Kirshner, who developed the PA Fast Track program in the newly created Office of Transformation and Opportunity, commended NorthPoint for participating and sharing their accelerated permitting timeline through a public dashboard. They don’t have to do it. They want to do it because they want that extra accountability and transparency for the community, Kirshner told me. But many residents still have questions as they face the twin threats of data center-driven power lines and eminent domain in Greater Hazleton’s Conyngham Valley, an Eden of rolling hills and rural townships that has largely been spared from industrial eyesores – until now. Unquote. So that’s really galling that Ben Kirshner was being quoted. They don’t have to do it. They want to do it because they want that extra accountability and transparency for the community. That’s what he’s saying. Extra transparency all the while that they were fast tracking Amazon and signing non-disclosure agreements and keeping that Amazon’s involvement secret. That’s the transparency. I you know it’s beyond um yeah amazing amazing going to the public and saying one thing to the media and announcing this transparency while hiding Amazon’s involvement and making it sound like they were courting many suitors like that there was going to be you know this competitive to get the best deal for Project Hazelnut or something when all the time it was already locked up by Amazon Web Services with the help of key leaders and key agency officials in Pennsylvania state government. And while Josh Shapiro has been promoting transparency, AWS was using North Point and AWS was engaged in the whole process. And then there was this, there were a whole bunch of emails in August 2025 where Amazon was holding a junket, they hosted a junket to go see a data center in, I think, Virginia, and they had two days of presentations about about AI and stuff with PA state government officials, including higher education and community colleges to try to push AI into community colleges. So those are in the emails too. But just sticking to the Project Hazelnut issue, we jump ahead and the next email that we see related is... A message, it was an email from Rick Siger to Becky Ford, Will Simons, Kayla Anderson, Justin Backover, Penny Ikes, Brian Ross, Daniel Okai, Amanda Warren, and David Wade. So this email from Rick Siger is dated Monday, October 6, 2025, 1245 p.m. Quote, Hi, Becky. I hope you are well and looking forward to seeing you in Berwick later this week. As discussed late last week, I’m connecting you here with a cast of many from the PA side to begin coordination on announcement planning. Specifically, I learned from our team today that we’d like to suggest October 17 as an option. Is there a specific driver for this date? Of course, please loop in the key folks from your team who are most relevant to this effort as well. For our internal team, here is the status of our core messages (subject of course Becky to your feedback) One, we will be announcing the next two sites in AWS’ innovation campus build out in PA - one in Kline Township, Schuylkill County, and one in Hazle Township, Luzerne County (also known as project Hazelnut, an OTO fast-track project). These will be positioned as additional sites to fulfill the initial $20 billion, 1,250 job commitment announced in June. One on the AWS side, in addition to the two new locations you are prepared to announce. a progress report on our June announcement including permanent and construction jobs created capital invested tax revenues realized at the state and local level and indirect impacts we currently have estimated AWS jobs 2025 payroll and capital investment for Salem Township and Falls Township sites (I do not have permission to disclose, approval is not guaranteed and may require additional time). I have estimates on local property tax, but we would need to work together on other tax revenue (ex. local wage tax, transfer tax, sales and use tax not exempt under CDC program, etc.) A new reclaimed water system to be deployed specifically at Hazle (AWS can elaborate further), which saves energy and water; Yes, we can discuss on the call. A.W.S. will provide funding for a new water line in Beach Haven, Salem Township to provide 100-plus residents with potable water. Many are currently using unsafe wells. Within the next 30 days, A.W.S. will release a five million Community Benefit Payment to Salem Township as part of our CBA. Similar community benefit agreements have been negotiated with Kline Township and Hazel Township (the CBAs are not public yet) And, a set of community-focused investments in Hazleton area, similar to those announced at June event in Berwick. We have a list of organizations that applied for and received grant funds from our community investment fund announced in June. The recipient organizations are located in Luzerne, Columbia, and Bucks County. On the PA side, we would ideally like to be prepared to announce $10 million in investments into workforce partners, We have first announced at the Salem Township site. This will require some rapid work over the next couple of weeks to land a comprehensive plan. Tentative. Ongoing progress regarding partnerships between PA’s research universities, and AWS to make cutting-edge compute available to PA-based researchers and startups. That’s all for now. I hope this helps rekindle the excellent collaboration we saw between our teams for the first announcement. We are grateful for the continued investment! (Exclamation point) Best, Rick! Unquote. Grateful. Rick Siger of DCED is grateful to Becky Ford at AWS. So here’s the reply from Becky Ford to Rick Siger and CC’d on all the aforementioned people. Quote, Merle and Preston, thank you. I made a few notes in red below. Would it be possible to confirm if the request is for a press release only or an organized event? As mentioned in our previous conversation, there are a few contractual issues that determine our timeline for public announcement. We should definitely get on a call to keep working the details. I will have an update on timeline by 12 p.m. tomorrow. Kind regards, Becky. Unquote. So now the questions in red are in the message from Rick Siger that we can see because it was included in her reply. And the parts that were in red were... The suggestion of October 17th, is there a specific driver for this date? And then the parts about the payroll investment for Salem Township and the local property taxes, and then all the parts about the new water. line and the community benefits agreements and the list of organizations that applied for and received grants. So that was all in red in that email that Becky Ford was replying to. Then we have a message dated October 7th, 2025 at 8.15pm from Rick Siger to Becky Ford and copied on a bunch of people quote hi Becky thanks so much for getting back and sorry for a delayed response after a long day the request is for an in-person event ideally at one of the sites I am partial to Hazelnut given its larger and fast track site I’ll Let my governor’s office colleagues chime in on the October 17 date. And of course, we understand there continue to be active conversations that will impact timing. To get a call on the books, I’m adding the great Kara Ruby. Let’s try to find 30 minutes this week to advance the conversation. Best, Rick Unquote. So then there’s a reply from Becky Ford to Rick Siger, October 7th, 9.58pm, quote, Hi Rick, thank you, two updates on my end, We had very productive meetings with SRBC today and anticipate having additional water stories partnerships to include. And, business teams confirmed we need to focus on November timeframe due to Hazelnut contractual agreement finalization and execution. Looking forward to seeing you later this week! Kind regards Becky Unquote. And we don’t know anything more about that. They were slated to made up. that that’s where in Berwick where there’s a another project happening near the nuclear power plant so then we fast forward to November 11th an email from David Wade to Ben Kirshner and Rick Siger Brian Ross and a few other people subject Project Hazelnut quote all the land development project for Project Hazelnut was tabled last night by the township it’s unclear if this is just being put on temporary hold or if the public opposition is pushing the local supervisors to rethink their support. North Point expects to hear more from the township later today, and I’ll pass on whatever info they get about next steps. Thanks, Dave, unquote. And it includes a news report. The linked article that David Wade so casually links to and refers to... The article details exactly why there’s public opposition quite clearly. That article, dated November 10th, says, quote, residents living near the proposed North Point data center say the peace and quiet of their Eagle Rock neighborhood has already been disrupted. I’m upset and appalled that you would even consider this because everyone knows. If you say yes, the whole area is going to be done, Hazel Township resident Doreen Cherenyock explained. Neighbors describe bright lights grinding and banging through the night, even though the township ordinance bans overnight operations between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., unquote. And Food & Water Watch reported on November 18, 2025. Headline says Hazel Township PA unanimously rejects data center campus. As Shapiro pushes data centers, communities increasingly say no. The article says... Quote. On Friday, following substantial public outcry from a packed room of more than 200 residents The Hazel Township Board of Supervisors unanimously rejected a land application that would have enabled construction of the Project Hazelnut Data Center campus proposed by Northpoint Development. Unquote. And it was after that it was revealed then that Amazon was behind this and that they were facilitated by the Pennsylvania state government. On the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania website, Project Hazelnut still has a status in progress. and there was a report in from February 17th, 2026 from Fox 56 Wolf that says that the headline reads DEP holds public hearing on Project Hazelnut as NorthPoint Appeal remains in court. Quote, the debate over a proposed 1,200-acre data center campus in Hazel Township continues. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection held a public hearing on Project Hazelnut, even as the developer appeals the township supervisor’s earlier denial of land development approval. Back in November, Hazel Township supervisors denied land development approval for Project Hazelnut. The developer, NorthPoint Development, has since appealed that decision in court, but the permitting process continues. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection scheduled four hours for the meeting as it reviews two key permits tied to the 1,282-acre proposal north of the Humboldt Industrial Park. Project Hazelnut has been described as a transformative technology campus featuring 15 data center buildings. It was fast-tracked under an economic development initiative introduced by Governor Josh Shapiro back in November 2024. Northpoint executives emphasized transparency. We believe that this project represents a significant opportunity for responsible and economic growth within the Hazleton area, and we’re dedicated to ensuring the success in the community. We appreciate this opportunity to answer questions, said Brian Stahl, Vice President Development, NorthPoint Development. Unquote. And nowhere in here does it say anything about Amazon. Nothing in this hearing was reported about Amazon at all, of course. And later in the article, a resident, Christine Gardner, is quoted as saying, it seems like this project is moving forward regardless. Has something changed or something happened with the appeal? And it says, quote, Northpoint responded that the appeal of the supervisors’ denial is still in progress but the DEP permitting process is separate and continuing as allowed under state law. And so there you have it. You know, it’s an obvious cover-up. And... The transparency that they keep talking about just doesn’t exist. And I think questions need to be asked, more questions need to be answered by government officials and people in elected representative positions.
