Morrow County Resident Urges Oregon DEQ to Address Amazon Data Center Pollution Concerns
A Morrow County resident is urging the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to address pollution concerns related to Amazon’s newest data center air-quality permit. Residents are submitting comments seeking a public hearing and pollution controls for diesel backup generators.
A Morrow County resident says the region’s expanding hyperscale data centers are worsening concerns about air quality and public health. The letter points to the large number of diesel backup generators at local facilities and cites an Oregon Public Broadcasting estimate that a one-hour outage could produce diesel pollution equivalent to 38,000 semitrucks operating for an hour across Morrow and Umatilla counties.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is accepting public comments on Amazon’s newest air-quality permit through Oct. 8. The writer and other residents are asking DEQ to hold a local public hearing and require pollution controls on the generators, arguing that economic development should not come at the expense of clean air and community health.