AOC Confronts Trump Official With Effects Of Data Centers On Local Water Supplies
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez confronted an EPA official during a House subcommittee hearing about the severe water quality issues in Morgan County, Georgia, allegedly caused by a Meta data center. She presented jars of brown water and highlighted the community's dwindling water supply. Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders have also introduced legislation to pause AI data center construction until environmental regulations are established.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) challenged EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Jessica Kramer during a U.S. House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing regarding the environmental impact of a Meta data center in Morgan County, Georgia. Ocasio-Cortez presented two jars of water, one containing clean water and another with brown water, which she claimed was the current drinking water in Morgan County after the Meta data center's construction. She stated that the data center consumes 10% of the community's daily water supply, putting the area on track for a total water deficit by 2030, and noted that families now have to ship water for cooking and bathing due to contaminated wells.
Kramer committed to investigating how data centers affect local water supplies. Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) previously introduced legislation in March to halt the construction of AI data centers until sufficient laws are in place to mitigate their environmental harm. The article also mentions the Trump administration's history of granting regulatory deference to tech companies for data center construction, including a 2023 executive order to accelerate federal permitting and a recent EPA proposal to allow pre-construction activities before final environmental approval, a rule the EPA claims would have "no impact to human health or the environment."