Rare bacteria, heavy metals, and toxic pollutants are leaking from data centers across the United States — breaking treatment facilities and poisoning rivers

AI data centers aren't just consuming water, they're poisoning it too

by · TechRadar

News By Benedict Collins Published 9 September 2026

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

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Data centers across the United States have been criticized for harming local environments sourcing power - sometimes illegally - from gas burning turbines that can release harmful pollutants into the air surrounding local communities.

But dozens of data centers have been accused of releasing harmful chemicals, heavy metals, and rare bacteria with the wastewater they release into nearby treatment facilities and waterways.

Violations have been logged for data centers in Wyoming, Virginia, New York, and Georgia, but the problem likely extends far across the rest of the US. Information on water usage and discharge for many data centers is hard to come by - or is being actively blocked.

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Pollutants released into water across the US

In Wyoming, Meta was recently forced to halt water discharges from the construction site of its enormous 960-acre Cheyenne campus after a resistant bacterium - Cupriavidus gilardii - was found within a local water treatment facility.

The bacterium was identified after regulators tested a sample of the 801,000 gallons Meta had discharged into Cheyenne’s sewers. Following concerns that local residents could inhale droplets of the contaminated water if it was used for irrigation, local officials decided to stop accepting wastewater from the construction site.

Two water treatment facilities were forced offline as part of a multi-month decontamination and cleanup operation. Meta’s contractor responsible for the site, Goat Systems, is appealing the decision of officials to stop accepting wastewater from the site.

Multiple data centers across Virginia are facing enforcement actions from local authorities for violating wastewater and wetland regulations. In one such case, a data center under construction in West Virginia has funneled stormwater runoff into a local residential area, causing flooding on two occasions.

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