Meta's massive data center in Wyoming hasn't even gone online yet, but it is already damaging the environment it's constructed in.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Officials are sounding the alarm over the Mark Zuckerberg-owned data center after a local public utilities agency reported that it traced a rare bacterium in its water treatment facility back to the site.
The Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities discovered the contamination of Cupriavidus gilardii during a routine sampling of its reclaimed water irrigation system in February.
The naturally occurring bacterium is typically found in soil and water. Most healthy people are largely unaffected by the bacteria, but it can cause severe pneumonia, bloodstream and lung infections, and, in rare cases, death among people with weakened immune systems.
Following a months-long investigation, officials determined that the bacteria stemmed from Meta's data center known as "Project Cosmo."
Project Cosmo is a 715,000-square-foot facility being constructed in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Scheduled to open in 2027, the facility is designed specifically to handle complex AI workloads.
Despite its massive $800 million budget, the facility will only add 100 permanent local jobs.
Before opening, Meta plans to address the contamination issue associated with the building's construction.
Meta spokesperson Francis Brennan told SFGATE on Tuesday that Fortis Construction stopped discharging wastewater after being notified of the contamination.
"Meta is committed to being a good neighbor in Cheyenne. Including through the protection of local water resources. And will continue encouraging collaboration between Fortis and the board until this situation is resolved," Brennan said in an email.
Officials stressed that it did not contaminate the city's drinking water. However, it disrupted the municipal reclaimed water system and required months of cleanup.
Additionally, the city permanently revoked Meta's authorization to discharge wastewater from its fill-and-flush operations into Cheyenne's treatment system.
Data Centers Require Vast Amounts of Water to Operate
According to Data Center Map, there are nearly 4,500 data centers nationwide.
On average, data centers use evaporative cooling systems to cool their servers. The evaporative cooling process can guzzle 3 to 5 million gallons of water per day. Astonishingly, 30 to 40 percent of the water used in this process is eventually lost to evaporation.
Reports of massive water use have fueled community protests from Arizona to the Netherlands over fears that data centers are draining local water supplies.
Large data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons per day, equivalent to the water use of a town populated by 10,000 to 50,000 people, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute.
