Cheyenne board links Meta data center work to bacteria in reuse water

Cheyenne, Wyoming, water officials say construction work tied to Meta’s new data center led to bacterial contamination in part of the city’s reclaimed-water system. The finding adds a local water-quality dispute to broader concerns over the rapid buildout of data centers used to support AI and cloud computing.

The Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities said in public notices that it traced the bacterium found at its wastewater treatment facility to Goat Systems LLC, a Meta contractor working on the company’s 715,000-square-foot data center campus. The board said the issue involved recycled water used for irrigation and did not affect the city’s drinking water.

The organism, Cupriavidus gilardii, is rare and is usually found in water and soil, according to the utility board. The board said infections are extremely uncommon, though direct exposure can pose risks for older people and people with compromised immune systems.

According to the Board of Public Utilities, routine testing in February detected the bacterium. The board then paused Cheyenne’s reclaimed-water irrigation program and ended Meta’s discharge privileges.

The board also said last week that it would no longer take industrial wastewater from fill-and-flush work, a construction process that runs purified water through systems and then flushes it out to remove debris and residue. It also said it would reject discharges from closed-loop cooling systems, which are commonly used in data centers and circulate water mixed with coolants.

Utility calls it significant non-compliance

The Board of Public Utilities classified the incident as significant non-compliance with federal pretreatment rules. In one notice, the board said staff spent the past two months draining and disinfecting the full reuse-water system and Prairie View Pond to remove any remaining bacterial presence.

The utility declined Fortune’s request for comment and said it planned to hold a press conference with more information in the coming week.

A Meta spokesperson told Fortune that the company is supporting Fortis, its general contractor, as Fortis works to resolve the issue. The spokesperson said Fortis hired a third-party environmental specialist to test its own water and that those tests found no trace of the bacterium.

According to the Meta spokesperson, Fortis stopped sending industrial wastewater into the city system after the board reported finding a substance in wastewater, not public drinking water, and began hauling that wastewater off site. The spokesperson said Meta would continue encouraging cooperation between Fortis and the utility board.

Data center growth faces local resistance

The Cheyenne dispute comes as data center projects draw more scrutiny from residents worried about water use, pollution and energy demand. A recent Gallup poll found that about 70% of Americans somewhat or strongly oppose data centers being built near them.

Gallup said half of respondents cited environmental concerns, including heavy water use and deforestation. The poll found that 16% cited pollutants, including air and water contamination, as part of their opposition.

Meta announced the Cheyenne project in July 2024, calling it the company’s 21st data center in the United States and 25th worldwide. Meta said at the time that Cheyenne offered access to infrastructure, energy and a large labor pool.

Meta said the $800 million project was expected to support more than 1,000 construction jobs at peak building activity and 100 jobs after completion. DataCenterMap lists 27 data centers in Cheyenne and 31 in Wyoming; Fortune reported that Northern Virginia has about 550, the most in the country.

Meta has previously said it would support local energy-grid and water-restoration work, including projects with Black Hills Energy and the Laramie County Conservation District to restore Crow Creek, which helps recharge Wyoming’s Ogallala Aquifer.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.