Opinion: Alaska data center proposals raise concerns over water usage and pollution
An opinion piece advocates for cooperation between the scientific community and the "Make America Healthy Again" movement to protect clean water, citing proposed data center developments in Alaska as a critical concern. The author details how data centers consume vast amounts of water and risk polluting local supplies with toxic runoff, posing significant threats to Alaskan ecosystems and communities. The article urges a unified effort to address these environmental impacts.
In an opinion piece for the Anchorage Daily News, Summer Cutting, a nurse practitioner, proposes that protecting clean water could serve as a common ground to bridge the divide between the scientific community and the "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) movement. Cutting argues that by focusing on shared values, such as safeguarding water supplies, these groups could collaborate on critical issues.
The article highlights data center development as a significant threat to water resources, noting that large facilities can use 1 million to 5 million gallons of water daily, equivalent to a community of 50,000 people. These operations not only strain local aquifers and wells but also produce toxic runoff containing chemicals like PFAS, lead, and other heavy metals that can contaminate rivers and drinking water sources. Alarmingly, 78% of current and proposed data centers are situated within two miles of a school.
Cutting points to several data center projects currently proposed in Alaska, including up to 12 facilities requested by the U.S. Air Force at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Eielson Air Force Base, and Clear Space Force Station. The state Department of Natural Resources also proposed developing a large industrial park near Houston, Alaska, to promote data center construction, and a $500 million data center is under consideration on the North Slope. The author warns that these projects could have irreversible impacts on Alaska's vital water supplies, salmon fisheries, and recreational waterways.
Ultimately, Cutting suggests that if MAHA, scientists, and Alaskans can unite in their shared concern for water protection against data center impacts, it could lead to significant legislative potential at both regional and national levels, fostering trust and collaboration on broader public health challenges.