The Johnson County Commissioners Court held a meeting recently to address data center concerns for residents, including so-called “forever chemicals,” water and power usage, and noise pollution.
Data centers have been a growing concern for Texas residents, and a majority of Americans. While Texas is second among the United States for data center growth, a recent Gallup poll showed that seven in ten Americans are against the construction of an AI data center in their area. This opposition increases to 75 percent in the southern United States, with Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller calling for a temporary moratorium on data centers.
Rita Beving, a prominent Dallas-based environmental activist, was one of the primary speakers to address these issues at the Johnson County meeting on May 11.
Beving noted that, while some data centers are utilizing a closed-loop cooling system, around 10 to 20 percent of the water used is still lost through evaporation. Additionally, water used is often polluted with perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), colloquially referred to as “forever chemicals.”
These chemicals have been noted to be particularly long lasting and ranchers have reported seeing an increase in stillborn animals in proportion to the increase of PFAS.
Johnson County has already passed a resolution asking Gov. Greg Abbott to declare an emergency to address PFAS found in the soil and water.
Beving also addressed the immense amount of energy required to power a data center, often requiring a dedicated natural gas plant to provide the energy. Data centers have also been reported to emit sound levels of up to 96 decibels, a level that can raise blood pressure, stress, cause hearing damage, and can cause sleep deprivation.
Beving stated that while data centers often come with a promise of job opportunities, those are temporary construction positions. The center reportedly would require only 20-100 employees for operations.
Johnson County Commissioner Rick Bailey stated that the county would be willing to take matters to Austin, if necessary, to protect affected residents.
