"Civil rights groups say these impacts resemble earlier patterns seen with highways, refineries and manufacturing: pollution concentrated where political resistance is weakest and property values are lowest. Data centers can also consume millions of gallons of water per day and use as much electricity as a small city, driving up energy and water use costs for poor residents. Zoom in: A supercomputer data center built by Elon Musk's xAI in Southwest Memphis, a historically Black neighborhood, faces a legal challenge from the NAACP."
"Nitrogen dioxide pollution near the site has spiked as much as 79%, according to TIME, raising the risk of asthma and respiratory illness in a community already burdened by high pollution rates. Earlier this year, Brent Mayo of xAI said the data center was adding newer units that would make it "the lowest-emitting facility in the country." The company also touted on X its progress on a wastewater treatment facility."
Data center development concentrates pollution and resource burdens in low-income and politically marginalized communities, mirroring earlier patterns from highways, refineries and manufacturing. These facilities can consume millions of gallons of water per day and use as much electricity as a small city, raising energy and water costs for poor residents and stressing local supplies. Specific cases include xAI's supercomputer in Southwest Memphis, where nitrogen dioxide rose as much as 79% and the NAACP alleges Clean Air Act violations. Planned projects in Amarillo, Northern Virginia, and near Tucson raise fears of aquifer depletion, overwhelmed communities, and worsening public-health and environmental inequities.
Read at Axios
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