'I wouldn't want it anywhere': Officials trace rare bacteria back to Meta data center construction
A rare bacteria, Cupriavidus gilardii, was traced back to construction wastewater discharged by Fortis Construction, a contractor for Meta's "Project Cosmo" data center in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities permanently revoked Meta's ability to discharge wastewater into its system and adopted new banning policies. While Meta states drinking water was unaffected and Fortis stopped discharge, public health concerns remain over the bacteria's presence in the reclaimed water irrigation system.
Officials are raising concerns after a rare bacteria, Cupriavidus gilardii, was discovered in the reclaimed water irrigation system managed by the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities in Wyoming. After extensive testing, the contamination was linked to construction wastewater discharged by Fortis Construction, a contractor for Meta's "Project Cosmo" data center near Cheyenne.
In response, the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities permanently revoked Meta's permission to discharge construction wastewater into its system and implemented new policies prohibiting such discharges from certain data center types. Meta spokesperson Francis Brennan confirmed that Fortis ceased wastewater discharge upon notification and that Meta's independent testing found no bacteria, emphasizing that the city's drinking water was not affected.
Despite assurances that drinking water was safe, infectious disease expert Monica Gandhi of UC San Francisco highlighted potential public health risks, particularly for immunocompromised individuals, if aerosols carrying the bacteria from the irrigated green spaces were inhaled. The utilities board temporarily shut down the irrigation program, disinfected the network, and later detected only "minimal residual traces" before resuming services on June 29, after consulting with Laramie County’s public health department. The incident has intensified existing community apprehensions regarding the strain that tech infrastructure, like data centers, places on local water and energy resources. A press conference is anticipated from the utilities board to address the situation.