The Dangers of AI Data Centers

An article from WTKR in Virginia released information earlier this week about the possibility of a Data Center being built in Newport News, Virginia. A city with predominantly lower-income and non-white communities is now at risk of being one of the many victims of generative AI Data Centers.

However, Newport News residents are unhappy, and are pushing back. An online petition has garnered over 2,500 signatures over the course of a week. But why are Newport News residents so against this?

AI Data Centers are bad for the environment and our health. Plain and simple. To back up the first half of the claim, the environmental aspects, we start with the rapid expansion of data centers threaten our freshwater supplies, and while 3% of the water of our planet is freshwater, we can only access about 0.5% of the safe water options (Environmental and Energy Study Institute). These centers consume a massive amount of our water, which is of course, already a scarce resource (UNEP). The reason they need this much water is to cool the processing chips, and these facilities have begun tapping into surface and underground aquifers (EESI). According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, "A medium-sized data center can consume up to roughly 110 million gallons of water per year for cooling purposes, equivalent to the annual water usage of approximately 1,000 households. Larger data centers can each “drink” up to 5 million gallons per day, or about 1.8 billion annually, usage equivalent to a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people." Additionally, "According to scientists at the University of California, Riverside, each 100-word AI prompt is estimated to use roughly one bottle of water (or 519 milliliters) (EESI).

So what does that mean for the environment? Well, these data centers produce electronic waste, which often involves lead and mercury, and I don't think I need to explain why those are dangerous for us (EESI). Additionally, in order to fully power these machines, AI Data Centers burn fossil fuels, which produces CO2 emissions. This is more than the average commute from Newport News to Norfolk. 1 round trip costs approximately 0.02 CO2, not including the traffic from the HRBT. It would take hundreds of trips to and from Naval Station Norfolk to reach the amount of emissions made by a data center. According to Carbon Brief, "data centers are currently responsible for just over 1% of global electricity demand and 0.5% of CO2 emissions, according to IEA data".

And for our people? Well, we lose access to clean drinking water, and the surrounding air becomes polluted with CO2. We still, to this day, have not fixed Flint, Michigan's water crisis. No one will help Newport News if our water and air becomes polluted. People, including my loved ones, at best will develop lifelong disabilities, but at worst, will die from it.

Our friends in Tennessee, Georgia, and Illinois can tell us from experience what this is doing to their environments. We can learn from them.

In Memphis, Tennessee, tech billionaire Elon Musk installed an AI data center in a predominantly low-income, Black community, which is already prone to pollution-related illnesses. According to Tennessee Outlook, "The facility is currently operating 33 methane-powered gas turbines to fuel its AI technology despite holding a permit for only 15." The colossal beast of a data center has increased Memphis's smog by 30-60% in the past year since it has opened.

In Mansfield, Georgia, Meta built a data center not far from a woman's house. It has disrupted her well, meaning she has had to hire a plumber to restore water pressure but even then, the water comes out with a film that makes it untrustworthy of being drunk. You can't drink dirty water unless you want to become ill.

A data center opened in Wood Dale, Illinois, and the surrounding neighborhoods were abandoned by residents. The pollution and the wasted water resources forced them to leave. Who can blame them?

What is the common denominator between these communities and the Fort Eustiss community? That's right, predominantly low-income, BIPoC communities. My family is not BIPoC but we are considered low-income. But I'm here to defend my community and my family. Because according to Tennessee State Rep Justin J. Pearson;

It’s no coincidence that if you are African American in this country, you’re 75% more likely to live near a toxic hazardous waste facility. It’s no accident that in this community, we’re four times more likely to have cancer in our bodies. It’s no accident that in this community, there are over 17 Toxics Release Inventory facilities surrounding us — now 18 with Elon Musk’s xAI plant.

Because this is the hard truth. And Newport News, near Fort Eustiss, is predominantly non-white and poor. The streets are lined with South Korean and Middle Eastern joints and churches. It is more affordable to get a house in Newport News than in Chesapeake or Virginia Beach.

This is my plea: fight to protect Newport News and its residents. Protect us from the harms that these data centers will cause. We can fight back and stop the data center from being built.

Thank you for your attention in this matter.