The city of Cheyenne, Wyoming, has announced a suspension of wastewater acceptance from data center operations after a building contractor for Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta contaminated the municipal wastewater system with a rare bacteria.
Cowboy State Daily reports that the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities announced the suspension last week, publicly identifying for the first time the source of contamination that has required months of cleanup efforts. The decision affects all data center-related industrial wastewater until further notice as officials work to prevent future incidents.
Goat Systems LLC, the corporate entity Meta uses for construction of its Cheyenne data center, was found to be in significant noncompliance with the city’s industrial pretreatment regulations. The company discharged wastewater contaminated with Cupriavidus gilardii, a bacterium that disrupted operations at the city’s water reclamation facilities and contaminated the municipal reuse water system. the contamination impacted reclaimed water used for irrigation purposes but did not spread to the drinking water supply.
The contamination, first discovered in February, originated from Meta’s sprawling data center campus in south Cheyenne, an $800 million project spanning nearly 800,000 square feet known during development as Project Cosmo. The contamination was traced to wastewater generated during data center fill-and-flush operations, a standard process used to clean and test cooling systems before facilities become operational. The broader suspension of accepting industrial wastewater from all data center fill-and-flush and closed-loop system operations represents a significant policy shift as officials evaluate prevention measures for future incidents.
Following notification of the contamination, Goat Systems immediately ceased discharging wastewater from fill-and-flush operations at the Meta Cheyenne Data Center. The Board of Public Utilities revoked the company’s industrial discharge privileges for those operations effective March 24.
Cheyenne City Councilman Pete Laybourn expressed his disappointment upon learning Meta’s data center was the contamination source. “It’s a very, very unpleasant surprise,” Laybourn said. “I have a lot yet to learn. It definitely complicates matters.” Laybourn indicated he had already raised concerns about arrangements the city made with data center operators and expects the disclosure will generate additional discussion. “It’s about the last thing we need right now,” he said. “But it’s a reality we’re going to have to work through.”
Mayor Patrick Collins also voiced disappointment but commended the Board of Public Utilities for detecting the contamination and cleaning up the city’s sewage reuse system. “I think it’s a disappointment to everyone involved,” Collins said.
In a statement to Breitbart News, a Meta spokesperson said:
Meta is supporting the efforts of our general contractor, Fortis, to resolve this issue with the City of Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities. When the board shared that it found a substance in the city’s wastewater – not public drinking water – Fortis immediately stopped discharging industrial wastewater and began hauling it offsite. Fortis also began its own water testing with an independent environmental specialist which has found no trace of the substance. 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.
Meta’s Cheyenne campus represents one of the largest private construction projects in the city’s history. Located in the High Plains Business Park, the facility spans hundreds of acres and is expected to encompass approximately 800,000 square feet upon completion.
Breitbart News recently reported that famed environmental activist Erin Brockovich is launching a campaign against AI data centers:
A major concern for Brockovich is the secrecy surrounding the approval process. Data center developers often enter into nondisclosure agreements with local officials, making it impossible for residents to understand why projects were approved without environmental impact assessments or public input. Brockovich reports receiving emails from people whose local leaders are changing zoning laws to accommodate these facilities. “If data centers are so great, why are they being built in secret?” reads one headline on her Substack blog.
Local governments attempting to pause or halt construction face severe financial consequences. In Hill County, Texas, county commissioners voted on a year-long moratorium after unexpected public outcry. The county was then sued by developers for $100 million in damages and, according to the Texas Tribune, has since backed down from the moratorium.
Beyond concerns about water consumption, residents near operational data centers report significant noise pollution. “It really becomes about the noise, the decibels,” Brockovich says. People describe being driven to distraction by constant humming, hissing, and buzzing from generators operating around the clock. Communities also report increased electricity bills, power surges, and concerns about wildlife disappearing from areas surrounding the data centers.
The placement of AI data centers has emerged as one of the major battlefields of artificial intelligence. Breitbart News social media director Wynton Hall has written his instant bestseller Code Red: The Left, the Right, China, and the Race to Control AI to serve as the definitive guide on how the MAGA movement can create positions on AI that benefit humanity without handing control of our nation to the leftists of Silicon Valley or allowing the Chinese to take over the world.
Read more at Cowboy State Daily here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of AI, free speech, and online censorship.