Data centers are often described as the invisible engines of the modern world. They power cloud storage, artificial intelligence, online banking, streaming platforms, and much of daily digital life. Most people never see them up close, and even fewer think about what it takes to keep them running around the clock.
But in several parts of the United States, these massive facilities have become impossible to ignore. Residents living near some Amazon Web Services data centres are reporting a troubling rise in rare cancers, miscarriages, and serious health complications. At the centre of the controversy is groundwater contamination, particularly dangerously high levels of nitrates in drinking water.
A series of investigations, led by reporting from Rolling Stone, has triggered intense debate over whether Amazon’s data centre operations are worsening an already fragile environmental situation. Amazon strongly denies the claims. Yet the concerns continue to grow, raising difficult questions not only for the US but also for countries like India that are rapidly expanding their own data centre infrastructure.
A Rural County at the Heart of a National Debate
Morrow County, Oregon, is a quiet agricultural region better known for cattle ranches, crops, and food processing plants than high-tech infrastructure. With a population of roughly 45,000, it is the kind of place where most residents rely on private wells for their drinking water and where environmental changes are noticed quickly.
That changed when expanded its cloud computing arm, into the region. Beginning in 2011, large AWS data centres were constructed to meet growing global demand for cloud services.
For years, the facilities attracted little attention outside of their economic footprint. But former county commissioner and cattle rancher Jim Doherty began noticing something unsettling. According to an investigation by Doherty observed a rise in unusual and severe medical conditions among residents living near the data centre operations.
Working alongside the county health office, Doherty helped organise a survey of 70 private wells across Morrow County. The results were alarming. Sixty eight of the seventy wells tested exceeded the federal safety limit for nitrates in drinking water. Some readings reached as high as 73 parts per million, more than ten times Oregon’s legal threshold.
Residents also reported a pattern of devastating health outcomes. Among the first thirty homes surveyed, officials heard accounts of at least twenty five miscarriages and six residents who had lost a kidney. Several people described rare cancers that doctors struggled to explain, including throat cancers typically associated with long term smoking in individuals who had never smoked.
Understanding Nitrates and Why They Are Dangerous
Nitrates are not rare or exotic chemicals. They are commonly found in agricultural fertilisers, animal waste, septic systems, and industrial wastewater. In small quantities, they are usually filtered naturally by soil and groundwater systems. Problems arise when concentrations become too high or when filtration systems are overwhelmed.
Long term exposure to elevated nitrate levels has been linked to a range of serious health risks. Medical research has associated nitrate contamination with certain cancers, including colorectal and thyroid cancers. It has also been connected to pregnancy complications such as miscarriages, low birth weight, and developmental problems in infants.
For communities dependent on groundwater, nitrate contamination is particularly dangerous because it is often invisible. Water can look, smell, and taste normal while still being unsafe to drink. This makes early detection difficult and increases the risk of prolonged exposure.
In Morrow County, nitrate pollution existed long before data centres arrived. Decades of intensive farming had already strained the local aquifer. However, investigators and residents argue that the scale and speed of contamination changed dramatically after the expansion of AWS facilities.
How Data Centres Use Water on a Massive Scale
Modern data centres generate enormous amounts of heat. Thousands of servers run continuously, processing and storing data for users across the globe. To prevent overheating, these facilities rely on extensive cooling systems, many of which use water drawn directly from local aquifers.
According to Rolling Stone’s reporting, AWS data centres in Morrow County use tens of millions of gallons of groundwater each year for cooling purposes. Once used, this water is discharged into the Port of Morrow’s wastewater system.
From there, the wastewater is sprayed onto nearby farmland as part of agricultural reuse practices. On paper, this system appears sustainable. In reality, the region’s sandy and porous soil struggles to absorb the volume of water being applied.
As a result, excess wastewater drains back into the aquifer, carrying concentrated nitrates with it. Investigators describe a cycle in which contaminated groundwater is repeatedly drawn into data centres, heated, concentrated through evaporation, and then returned to the environment with even higher nitrate levels.
This process, critics argue, effectively amplifies existing pollution rather than allowing the aquifer time to recover.
Personal Stories Behind the Statistics
For residents, the data is not abstract. It is deeply personal.
Kathy Mendoza, a longtime Morrow County resident, told Rolling Stone that she suffers from chronic joint and muscle pain that she believes is linked to nitrate exposure. Others described years of unexplained illnesses, mounting medical bills, and the emotional toll of repeated miscarriages.
One resident recounted the shock of being diagnosed with a rare cancer typically seen in heavy smokers, despite having never smoked a day in his life. Another family described losing multiple pregnancies without ever receiving a clear medical explanation.
Community advocates argue that what makes the situation especially painful is the lack of timely intervention. Many residents continued drinking contaminated water for years before learning the full extent of the problem.
Comparisons to Flint, Michigan
Environmental activists say the situation echoes earlier public health crises in the United States. Kristin Ostrom, executive director of Oregon Rural Action, compared Morrow County’s experience to the water contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan.
The comparison is not only about polluted water. It is also about delayed responses, regulatory gaps, and the vulnerability of rural and low income communities. Ostrom noted that residents often lack the political influence and technical expertise needed to demand accountability from powerful corporations.
In both cases, critics argue, early warnings were overlooked, and meaningful action came only after widespread harm had already occurred.
Amazon’s Response and Denial of Responsibility
Amazon has firmly rejected the allegations linking its data centres to groundwater contamination and health problems.
Company spokesperson Lisa Levandowski described the Rolling Stone investigation as misleading and inaccurate. She stated that nitrate pollution in the region predates Amazon’s arrival and is primarily caused by agricultural fertilisers, manure, septic systems, and wastewater from food processing plants.
Levandowski emphasised that AWS facilities use and return only a very small fraction of the community’s overall water supply. She also stressed that nitrates are not added in any Amazon process and that the company complies with all environmental regulations.
Amazon has further highlighted recent efforts to reduce its environmental footprint, including plans to transition many data centres to recycled or non potable water sources.
A Broader Pattern Across the United States
Concerns about data centre impacts are not limited to Oregon.
In central Ohio, where Amazon operates dozens of data centres near cities like Columbus, New Albany, and Dublin, residents have raised similar questions about water use, air pollution, noise, and infrastructure strain. According to local reporting, the region hosts more than half of Ohio’s data centre projects.
Researchers at Caltech have warned that air pollution linked to data centre operations could contribute to an estimated 1,300 premature deaths annually in the United States by 2030. The associated public health costs could reach tens of billions of dollars.
In Northern Virginia, another major hub for AWS operations, workers and nearby residents have reported clusters of illnesses and called for greater transparency and independent monitoring.
Regulatory Gaps and Growing Scrutiny
State and federal regulators are now grappling with how to oversee a rapidly expanding industry.
In Ohio, environmental authorities are considering special wastewater permits for data centres. While these permits would restrict some pollutants, nitrates are notably absent from the list. The draft language argues that some environmental trade offs are necessary to support economic development.
Critics say this approach underestimates the long term costs to public health and local ecosystems. They argue that existing regulations were not designed for the scale and intensity of modern data centre operations.
Why India Is Paying Close Attention
As the debate intensifies in the United States, India is preparing for its own data centre boom.
Driven by artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and digital services, India has become one of the fastest growing data centre markets in the world. Global technology companies and domestic giants alike are investing billions in new facilities.
One of the most high profile announcements came from Google, which revealed plans for a 15 billion dollar AI focused data centre project in Andhra Pradesh.
India’s environmental context, however, is vastly different from that of the US.
The country is home to approximately 18 percent of the world’s population but has access to only about 4 percent of global freshwater resources. Many urban centres already struggle with severe water scarcity.
Studies suggest that India’s data centre water consumption could rise from around 150 billion litres in 2025 to more than 350 billion litres by 2030. Up to 80 percent of facilities may be located in regions facing high water stress.
Energy Demand and Infrastructure Risks
Water is only one part of the equation.
The International Energy Agency has warned that India’s data center electricity demand could double in the coming years, reaching as much as 1 to 2 percent of national consumption.
Without strong renewable energy mandates, this growth could increase reliance on fossil fuels and place additional strain on already stretched power grids.
Experts caution that unchecked expansion could eventually disrupt essential digital services, including banking systems, hospitals, transportation networks, and government platforms.
Lessons From Oregon
Environmental experts argue that the controversy surrounding Amazon’s data centres offers important lessons.
Key recommendations include stricter groundwater monitoring, mandatory use of recycled or non potable water, careful site selection away from stressed aquifers, and transparent public reporting of environmental data.
They also stress the importance of involving local communities early in planning processes and ensuring that economic benefits are balanced against long term environmental and health risks.
A Defining Moment for the Digital Future
Data centres are not optional infrastructure. They underpin modern economies and digital life.
But the experiences of communities in Oregon, Ohio, and Virginia highlight the hidden costs that can accompany unchecked growth. What happens underground, in aquifers and soil, may be just as important as what happens in the cloud.
For India and other rapidly digitising nations, the challenge is not whether to build data centres, but how to do so responsibly.
The choices made today will determine whether the digital future delivers shared prosperity or leaves behind silent, long lasting damage.
