Update, 12:30 p.m.: This article has been updated to include Mehta’s appeal of the Cheyenne Public Utilities Commission’s violation notice.
The metadata center’s contamination of the Cheyenne water system highlights residents’ concerns that there are more than 20 data centers that are consuming or could consume Wyoming’s energy, water and landscape.
Water officials announced in June that an unusual and dangerous bacteria called Cupriavidus gilardii, which can make people sick, had been traced to an industrial user first identified by the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle as a Metadata Center contractor.
The source of the contamination was identified several months after the bacteria was discovered in late February. The contamination forced the city to stop irrigating playgrounds and parks with recycled water from the sewage system, drain and disinfect the sewage system, and use potable water for irrigation instead.
It took months to locate the source, but ultimately Cheyenne’s discharge privileges were “immediately and permanently terminated,” the city’s Department of Public Works said. As the International Business Times called it “destruction of Meta’s ‘Good Neighbor’ image,” U.S. Congresswoman Harriet Hageman demanded answers from Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Mehta on Monday appealed the city’s violation notice, requesting more information about the tests and data used to determine the source of the infection, the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle reported.
“These companies are taking advantage of rural areas where regulations for these facilities are not in place.”
kathryn stevens
As Wyoming communities grapple with a surge in local zoning changes to allow for the construction of data centers, computer warehouses and offices, the contamination has called into question the guarantees of developers and tech companies.
The data center planned for the 5,344-acre site 13 miles east of Wheatland “wowed my family,” said Kathryn Stevens, who moved to her family’s property from Washington state several years ago in search of a rural lifestyle.
“These companies are taking advantage of rural areas where regulations for these facilities are not in place,” she told WyoFile.
Developers in Cheyenne, Casper, Evanston and Wheatland are touting water-friendly closed-loop cooling systems, on-site power, jobs, funding and more. But the contamination creeping into the city of about 66,000 people requires “significant remediation,” Cheyenne water officials said, highlighting what could be at stake in semi-arid Wyoming.
Wyoming’s capital, for example, can’t even quench its own thirst. Cheyenne gets half of its water from across the Continental Divide, 115 miles away, through diversion and paper swaps, where the Colorado River Basin itself is in trouble and suffering from oversupply.
“Irrigation water, like reuse systems, is a valuable resource that cannot be wasted or taken offline,” Hagemann wrote to Zuckerberg. “What concerns me even more is that this contamination appears to be coming from your facility’s closed-loop cooling system, a technology touted as a solution to the high water consumption of data centers.”
Information is slow to come
The Cheyenne Public Utilities Commission and the EPA declined to comment this week on their potential responsibilities in overseeing the sewer system. The utility said it plans to release more information this week.
Meanwhile, an organization called Data Center Map counts 31 completed or planned data centers in four Wyoming markets, but does not include a recently proposed data center east of Wheatland.
About an hour’s drive south, Microsoft plans to purchase more than 3,000 acres of ranch land owned by the family of Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis for its data center expansion plans in southern Cheyenne.
On the other side of the state, Prometheus Hyperscale is working with the Town of Evanston and Uintah County to build its flagship data center on a 4,100-acre ranch. According to the Nuclear Regulation Authority, Project Torch will generate up to 1.2 gigawatts of electricity by the end of 2029, enough to power between 500,000 and 1 million homes at any given time.
The latest proposal to rezone 5,344 acres for the Wheatland project drew more than 400 comments when described on the Wheatland News and Events Facebook page. A site Layer 4 project there is being proposed by Lazy V Six Ranch, a New York company seeking a change from ranching/agricultural/mining zone to industrial classification. The proposal is scheduled for a public hearing before the Platte County Planning and Zoning Commission on Aug. 26.
Comments such as “We don’t want that,” “Look at the current water crisis,” and “Get it in New York” were some of the opponents. New York Governor Kathy Hochul this week issued the nation’s first statewide moratorium on new hyperscale data center construction. But some commentators on the Wheatland project think it has a future. One poster said: “No one wanted a power plant, but Wheatland didn’t disappear, it grew.”
Stevens said if the industry were patient, it would be different for developers to ask communities if they would be ready to accept zone change applications within a year.
But Stevens said, “Before we had regulations in place (or) before we knew what was safe and what was not, this issue got stuck in our throats.”
The proposed rezoning of Platte County would “allow for the highest and best use of land,” resulting in $26 billion in investment in Platte County, the filing states. The development will accelerate innovation, strengthen cybersecurity, support allies and “counter China,” Site Layer 4 said.
Public anxiety across the state prompted Gov. Mark Gordon to act. In early June, he signed a Wyoming-style data center executive order to establish a framework for development.
“This order sends a clear message,” the governor said in a statement. “We welcome innovation, but it will be done on Wyoming terms.”
candidates consider
Republican candidate Brent Bien called for repealing a 2010 bill that would have given AI data centers “significant tax breaks.”
“Large businesses should not receive tax breaks that are unavailable to small businesses,” he wrote in WyoFile’s 2026 election guide.
He said he opposes the development of new AI data centers “particularly on state-owned land and agricultural land through the[National Loan and Investment Commission].”
Republican candidate Eric Barlow said the proposal should be decided locally. “The role of the state is to prevent the misuse of water resources, prevent electricity price increases, and help communities get truthful information when they need it to make decisions,” he wrote.
Fellow Republican gubernatorial candidate Megan Degenfelder said developers shouldn’t build their projects if they increase residents’ rates. She called for closed-loop cooling systems, Wyoming workers, workforce education, and local community accommodations.
A data center employee checks operation with Casper. (Dustin Briseffer/WyoFile)
Democrat Kenneth R. Casner and Republican Kurt Blake did not respond to the survey.
Developers liken data centers to modern high-speed access libraries where you can ask a question and get an answer right away. But they do more than just house complex computer programs and networks that are difficult to replicate in homes and even businesses.
Modern computing needs such as word processors, spreadsheets, cell phone videos, photo albums, and digital image editing programs are stored and supported in data centers. A warehouse of networked computers, whose functionality is backed up, always available, and accessible from virtually anywhere, is the foundation of modern communication and lifestyle tools.
Streaming movies are stored in data centers, waiting for you to click “play.” These are the home of the webpage where you order a new fluffy jacket or a birthday gift for your niece, and the “cloud” where you store photos of your granddaughter to show off at work.
