Cheyenne Revokes Meta Wastewater Permit at 800,000-Sq-Ft AI Datacenter After Bacteria Discharge
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 8
Cheyenne Revokes Meta Wastewater Permit at 800,000-Sq-Ft AI Datacenter After Bacteria Discharge
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 8
Summary
Cheyenne permanently revoked Meta’s authority to send wastewater to city treatment facilities after routine February testing found bacteria-contaminated discharge from the Project Cosmo datacenter site.
Officials traced the discharge to contractor Goat Systems and responded by banning sewer releases from datacenters using closed-loop cooling and fill-and-flush systems unless water is separately collected and hauled offsite.
Meta said Fortis stopped discharging industrial wastewater as soon as the city flagged the issue and began independent testing, which the company says found no trace of Cupriavidus gilardii; drinking water was not affected.
The city’s concern centered on its reuse system, which sprays treated wastewater on parks and other public spaces, potentially aerosolizing contaminants; irrigation has resumed now that the datacenter discharge ended.
The incident adds to backlash against resource-intensive AI datacenters in Wyoming and nationwide, where nearly 4,500 US facilities can use as much as 300,000 gallons of water a day.