Source: www.circleofblue.org

Ohio Scraps Controversial Plan to Ease Data Center Wastewater Discharges

Fetched 2026-07-22 08:00 from www.circleofblue.org

Reading Summary (AI-generated)

Reading Summary: Ohio Scraps Data Center Wastewater Permit

Key Facts

• Ohio EPA canceled a proposed general NPDES permit that would have allowed all data centers statewide to discharge untreated waste- and stormwater directly into waterways, regardless of size or location
• The proposal explicitly stated that “a lowering of water quality…is necessary to accommodate important social and economic development” — described as unprecedented language
• Over 7,000 public comments were submitted before the mid-January deadline, contributing to the agency’s reversal
• Data center cooling effluents have been shown to include PFAS and nitrates; a rare bacteria at a Cheyenne, WY wastewater facility was traced to a Meta hyperscale data center construction project
• New York, Michigan, Illinois, and Nebraska have all issued separate orders within the same week curtailing data center development or tax incentives

Who Is Affected

• Agencies: Ohio EPA, U.S. EPA (ordered priority chemical review)
• Advocacy groups: Alliance for the Great Lakes, Ohio Environmental Council
• Ecosystems: Great Lakes watershed and Ohio waterways downstream of potential discharge sites
• Municipalities: Cheyenne, WY (directly impacted by Meta discharge); Ohio communities near data center sites
• Industry: Hyperscale data center developers (Meta specifically named)

Policy/Legal Angle

• The canceled permit was a NPDES general permit under the Clean Water Act framework
• Ohio EPA will revert to individual permitting for each data center, restoring site-specific review and public notice/comment rights
• New York Gov. Hochul issued a one-year moratorium via executive order on new data center development
• Nebraska and Illinois governors signed executive orders ending tax incentives for data center developers
• Michigan Gov. Whitmer opted for a voluntary freshwater pledge rather than a binding order
• Cheyenne, WY adopted a new policy requiring separate cooling wastewater storage tanks for most new data centers

Blog Angles

1. California parallel: Does California have an equivalent NPDES general permit framework that could be exploited similarly for data centers? What are CalEPA and the State Water Board’s current permitting requirements for data center discharges, particularly in watersheds already stressed by drought?
2. PFAS and source water risk: The article flags that data center effluents contain PFAS and nitrates but notes these haven’t been adequately studied. How are California drinking water utilities with intakes near data center clusters (e.g., in the Central Valley or Sacramento region) tracking or testing for these contaminants?
3. The multistate policy moment: Six states acted within roughly one week — is this coordinated, and is California conspicuously absent? Given the state’s large and growing data center footprint, why hasn’t California issued similar guardrails?

Full Text

The Ohio EPA has decided not to move forward with a controversial permit that would have relaxed wastewater discharge requirements for data centers.

More than 7,000 public comments were submitted on the proposed ‘one-size-fits-all’ permit.

In the past week, several Great Lakes states have taken action to set firmer guardrails for data center developers.

COLUMBUS, Oh. — After months of deliberation, Ohio’s Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) has decided not to move forward with a proposed general permit that would have allowed all data centers across the state — regardless of their size, location, or type — to discharge untreated waste- and stormwater directly into waterways.

The decision follows a recent slew of state-level orders — including those from New York, Michigan, Illinois, and Nebraska — meant to curb the data center industry’s growth, which so far has proceeded largely unchecked.

The now-defunct proposal , first introduced last October, immediately drew the criticism of environmental advocates and legal experts for its unprecedented assertion that “a lowering of water quality of various waters of the state…is necessary to accommodate important social and economic development.”

In a statement released this week, the OEPA said it considered more than 7,000 public comments, which were submitted by mid-January, before making its final decision.

“Public participation is a critical part of Ohio EPA’s decision-making process, and we take feedback seriously,” the agency said. “After carefully reviewing the significant volume of public comments received on the draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit for data centers, Ohio EPA has decided not to move forward with finalizing the general permit.”

Critics said that the proposed one-size-fits-all approach to data center discharges increased the potential for ecological harm. The chemicals used for cooling the servers in these facilities — effluents which have been shown to include PFAS and nitrates — and their impact on human health and the environment have not been adequately studied.

Last fall, the U.S. EPA ordered a priority review of chemicals used in data centers, though many experts saw the move as a first step to fast-tracking their widespread approval. And headlines were made earlier this month when a rare bacteria discovered in Cheyenne, Wyoming’s wastewater treatment facility was traced back to the construction of a new hyperscale data center serving Meta. The city revoked Meta’s discharge permit following the discovery and adopted a new policy requiring most new data centers to collect cooling wastewater in a separate storage tank.

“We are not confident that the OEPA fully understands the scope of the types of contaminants that data centers might be discharging, nor are the data center operators themselves adequately aware of what they might be discharging,” Helena Volzer, a senior source water policy manager with the Alliance for the Great Lakes, told Circle of Blue in February.

Following the cancellation of the proposed permit, the agency will continue to issue wastewater discharge permits to data centers individually, better accounting for each building’s specific footprint, discharge type, and potential environmental impact.

“A one-size-fits-all ‘general’ permit would have eliminated meaningful agency review of data center water pollution discharges and cut notice and comment opportunities for local communities,” Nathan Johnson, the senior attorney of land and water with the Ohio Environmental Council, tells Circle of Blue. “Thousands of Ohioans spoke out against this proposal. Today’s permit cancellation is an important win for the public.”

The decision is the latest in a series of recent actions meant to reign in hyperscale data centers’ largely unregulated regionwide boom.

Last week, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued an executive order establishing a temporary one-year moratorium on data center development in the state. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer followed suit with a less aggressive action, calling on data center companies to sign a pledge committing to protect Michigan’s freshwater resources and comply with environmental protections.

And earlier this week, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen followed the lead of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker by signing an executive order that ends data center developers’ access to tax incentives.

“Early in my administration, I called for a pause in building new data centers, and this executive order is consistent with that call,” Gov. Pillen said in a statement. “Data centers are a booming industry. Major tech companies are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into them. And while that presents significant economic opportunity, it also presents resource challenges.”

Christian Thorsberg is an environmental writer from Chicago. He is passionate about climate and cultural phenomena that often appear slow or invisible, and he examines these themes in his journalism, poetry, and fiction.

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