Erin Brockovich Launches Platform to Track AI Data Centers Amid Community Concerns

Erin Brockovich, the American environmental activist portrayed by Julia Roberts in the film named after her, has launched a new project that aims to give people "a platform to speak up and voice concerns about AI data centers in their communities." The new Brockovich AI Data Center Reporting website centers on a map showing major operational AI data centers and facilities under construction in the US, along with projects reported by the community. Some of the reports could be for rumored or proposed projects, so not every dot on the map represents a data center that's already running. The website has received 2,716 reports so far, with the biggest chunk coming from Texas. Of the 612 reports from the state, 297 came from Sulfur Springs, where MSB Global is building one of the largest AI data center projects on the continent. The company is planning to build data centers with a capacity of 3 Gigawatts, spread across 30 buildings on around 1,600 acres of land. It's facing pushback from the community, as you'd expect, as well as lawsuits filed by the land's previous owners and at least one resident. Based on the reports the website has received, most people are worried about water, followed by electricity and then the health of the residents in their communities. AI data centers require massive amounts of water, thereby threatening the freshwater supplies of nearby towns. Larger facilities consume 5 million gallons per day, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, which is approximately the same amount used by a town with 10,000 to 50,000 people. AI data centers also use massive amounts of electricity, increasing the need for energy companies to upgrade their infrastructure. According to the same non-governmental organization, utilities are passing on the costs of those upgrades to consumers by charging them more. And when it comes to health, people are worried about the air and noise pollution AI data centers will bring to their communities. Brockovich is best known for her investigative work into groundwater contamination in Hinkley, California, in the early 1990s. Her work was instrumental in winning the case against Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), whose wastewater was contaminating the town's water supply and making people ill.