Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) brought a dramatic visual aid to a congressional hearing Wednesday — two jars of brown, murky water — as she pressed a Trump EPA official over the administration's push to fast-track data center construction at the expense of clean drinking water.
During a hearing of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Ocasio-Cortez held up the jars in front of Jessica Kramer, the EPA's Assistant Administrator for Water, and demanded answers about the contaminated drinking water in Morgan County, Georgia — ground zero for a massive Meta data center campus.
"The only difference between the clean water and this was that data center," Ocasio-Cortez said, holding up the jars side by side. "This wasn't just one well. This wasn't just one family's situation. This is what the drinking water now looks like next to that data center."
The congresswoman had recently visited Morgan County, roughly 60 miles east of Atlanta, where Meta has been clear-cutting forests and conducting explosive blasting for a 2.5 million-square-foot data center campus. Residents near the site say their water has turned brown and their appliances have stopped working. Nearby water bills are expected to spike by 33%.
"These families now have to ship water to their house in order to cook and bathe themselves," Ocasio-Cortez told Kramer.
When the congresswoman asked whether the EPA had any plans to investigate how data centers are affecting water quality nationwide, Kramer offered a cautious but notable response.
"As soon as I get back to the office, I will be looking into exactly what you've just talked about," Kramer said.
Ocasio-Cortez also pressed Kramer on whether there are any mandates requiring data centers to conduct water-quality testing of wells before construction begins. Kramer said she was not aware of any such requirements.
The exchange comes as the Trump administration has issued executive orders to fast-track data center construction across the country, which critics say bypasses critical environmental safeguards.
Ocasio-Cortez closed by calling for a full congressional investigation into the matter.
