COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A report linked Amazon data centers to miscarriages and rare cancers, drawing concerns about data centers’ presence in central Ohio.
According to a report from Rolling Stone, officials in Morrow County, Oregon, linked dangerous levels of nitrates in the county’s water supply to the presence of an Amazon data center. The report alleged the data center’s immense water demands made nitrogen seep into the area’s underground water supply faster than it could be filtered out, leading to miscarriages, rare cancers and other health complications. Amazon strongly denied the connection.
Data centers have been linked to health concerns far beyond the scope of Rolling Stone’s report, worrying some central Ohioans. According to DataCenters.com, Amazon has 28 data centers in central Ohio, mostly near New Albany, Hilliard and Dublin. In all, Data Center Map tallied 133 data centers in central Ohio, more than half of Ohio’s 215 total data center projects.
“It’s been clear to me that there is a lack of understanding and a need for education,” Dublin resident and data center activist Amy Swank said. “What these really do, how they really impact our electricity, our water, our community noise pollution level, light pollution level, and then what are the economic benefits to having one? I don’t think people truly grasp that.”
Caltech researchers found data centers’ air pollutants are expected to contribute to 1,300 premature deaths every year in the U.S. by 2030. Researchers said data centers can “significantly degrade air quality,” creating a public health burden of up to $20 billion in the next two years.
“If you have family members with asthma or other health conditions, the air pollution from these data centers could be affecting them right now,” co-author of the Caltech study Shaolei Ren said. “It’s a public health issue we need to address urgently.”
In Oregon, complaints against Amazon’s data center were water-centric, with the immense water demands reportedly making it nearly impossible to filter out nitrates. Rolling Stone alleged 68 of 70 Oregon wells tested had nitrate levels that violated the federal safety threshold. Of the first 30 homes officials visited, they heard of at least 25 miscarriages and six people who had had a kidney removed.
Amazon spokesperson Lisa Levandowski said the Rolling Stone report was “misleading and inaccurate” and that Amazon Web Services data centers cannot be held accountable for decades of groundwater concerns. See previous coverage of Ohio data centers’ water use in the video player above.
“Federal, state and local agencies have spent years working to address nitrates from agricultural fertilizer, manure, septic systems, and wastewater from food processing plants,” Levandowski said. “Our data centers draw water from the same supply as other community members; nitrates are not an additive we use in any of our processes, and the volume of water our facilities use and return represents only a very small fraction of the overall water system.”
Levandowski said in Ohio, a standard data center will “use water for less than 3% of the year.” She said Amazon’s water use effectiveness in Ohio is also over three times better than the U.S. industry average.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is considering a new permit just for data centers that discharge wastewater and stormwater. The permit would allow data centers to discharge some wastewater with fewer pollutants into nearby water sources. It would ban discharge with a number of pollutants, but the list does not include nitrates.
The draft permit states that “a lowering of water quality of various waters of the state … is necessary to accommodate important social and economic development.”
According to the Ohio EPA’s Central Ohio Regional Water Study, central Ohio water districts with the worst water quality do see some correlation with data center hotspots, although there is not enough data for a definitive connection.
Whether or not data centers are affecting water quality, data center operators are considering ways to minimize their water use. In November, Amazon announced 120 of its data centers will use recycled water, or water pulled from wastewater treatment plants rather than relying on fresh drinking water.
The Ohio EPA is accepting public comments on its data center permit proposal through Dec. 17 online.