Ohio EPA drafts permit allowing data centers to dump wastewater & biocides into state waters

The five-year blanket permit would let data centers discharge biocides, heavy metals, and PFAS into Lake Erie.

Ohio’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has filed a draft blanket permit that, if passed, will allow data centers to dump wastewater into state waters for the next five years, including biocides, heavy metals, perfluoroalkyl, and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), into Lake Erie.

This draft permit OHD000001 was submitted by Ohio EPA Director John Logue, as spotted by Gadget Review. Named the General Permit Authorization for Discharges from Data Center Facilities Under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, this permit would replace an old system in which each data center needed its own discharge permit, with a review analyzing the river in which it will discharge, the stream depth, and the watershed receiving the discharge. The new system would require one application and involve heavily reduced review and analysis and the permit even anticipates a “decline in water quality” as companies continue to aggressively expand data center plans.

If Ohio EPA’s draft passes, it looks like one of the few provisions to protect the environment call for permittees to “evaluate potential prevention methods and install the latest pollution prevention technology if it is economically feasible.” That is to say, pollution prevention seems to be optional if a company can show it can’t “feasibly” absorb the cost.

This move looks set to create several more situations such as what we’ve seen in the class-action lawsuit against a Microsoft data center in Wisconsin for noise pollution and legal action in Tennessee against a SpaceX data center over air pollution. Regardless, artificial intelligence remains in high demand and tech companies show no signs of slowing down, especially with the current US presidential administration leaning heavily into the AI sector.

Ohio Draft Permit OHD000001 is still just a draft at this time of writing. Stay tuned for further updates via the AI topic.

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