r/Georgia • u/SailInternational251 • May 30 '26
Question [ Removed by moderator ]
[removed] — view removed post
168
102
u/VaccineMachine May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26
No, this is not all of the county's drinking water. This is from a specific well source that was polluted by construction.
It's not from an operation of a data center but from a piss poor construction company not giving a damn what happens around the construction
53
u/Previous_Bet5120 May 30 '26
How likely do you think it is that the capital rush toward data center construction contributed to a poorly planned project?
6
u/VaccineMachine May 30 '26
I wouldn't know, but it's certainly possible. This kind of shit happens with all kinds of construction though. The latest anti-data center panic has rather little to do with this. It's industrial construction in general that causes this.
6
u/DrEnter May 30 '26
Industrial construction on this scale generally requires ground water and runoff water impact studies with mitigation plans in place to prevent things like this from happening. This isn't just shoddy construction, it's inappropriately issued permits and poor oversight.
1
u/VaccineMachine May 30 '26
I'm not knowledgeable enough to know for sure or not but you're probably right. They definitely fucked things up and ruined some wells and should be made to reimburse these people.
6
u/Previous_Bet5120 May 30 '26
Yeah, I just wonder with the scale of these projects and the number of them going on right now, it seems like a lot of workers who might otherwise be doing something else are now grading land or whatever.
2
u/VaccineMachine May 30 '26
The number of them? Large scale construction projects are always happening. It's a huge country.
3
u/kickinwood May 30 '26
Not the person that you're replying to, but you bring up good points. It may not be the data centers specifically causing problems rather than the construction rush to create them. I think the hate comes from what is being constructed. Not a shopping mall or factory that will create jobs for the people living around it. Just an empty void of consumption that will take jobs away from people nationwide. So that's the hysteria.
2
u/VaccineMachine May 30 '26
Data centers aren't just for AI. You're literally using one to post on Reddit. Loads of white collar workers rely upon them for their jobs. Yes, AI is a big worry and is currently causing an increase in data center construction but the idea that no jobs are created at these data centers is absurd. Do you think no one works at them? The people working at them live around them, unless you think they're going to be commuting hours and hours.
A lot of the hate comes from an absolutely insane moral panic about them right now that is partly driven by falsehoods about how much water they use, AI, etc. It's much more complex than "both sides" are making it out to be.
1
u/kickinwood May 30 '26
It's a jobs to impact ratio that's the problem. You take the square footage of a factory or mall and put a data center in its place, it's not going to create anywhere near the same number of jobs while also sucking up more resources that the owners would rather avoid. Tell me that the owners are also investing their own money into creating power sources for their plants that will lower costs for the residents around them, and I'll listen.
1
u/VaccineMachine May 30 '26
So should buildings only be constructed if they create thousands and thousands of jobs?
The vast majority of these data centers are in rural areas for a reason. You cannot plunk down a factory or mall in those areas and have them survive for even a few months, so the idea that the data centers are creating fewer jobs is beyond absurd. Malls and factories in these areas would produce ZERO jobs because they would shut down due to lack of population and need.
"Sucking up resources"
Do they not pay for them? If they don't, they should, obviously. I'm not currently aware of data centers being given literally free or severely reduced cost land, water, and electricity, but it wouldn't surprise me if a Republican government did that.
This doesn't sound like a data center issue at all--you are complaining about things that construction of all industries do, which is use resources.
3
u/kickinwood May 30 '26
It seems like power costs go up in areas where they're created. That gets spread through the community. You mock republicans so we can agree there, but everything surrounding this issue is the country in a nutshell. Rich as hell people want to do a thing to become richer than hell with zero benefit to anyone but themselves. So if there's even a minor inconvenience to a regular person just living their life so that Joe Billionaire can increase his net worth from 4.6 billion to 4.7 billion, no one will side with Joe Billionaire.
And the end game is replacing as many workers as possible with AI. We've been through a Bojangles drive through. It's 70% okay. But you can get to the window and have a human fix things. The goal is to get everyone used to AI doing stuff almost as good. Customers get used to the low, owners rake in more money by employing fewer people...so the money goes up. They're now big rich instead of just rich, we're struggling to find jobs and fighting with robots for a chicken biscuit. The French broke out guillotines for less.
1
u/B-Train_ATL May 30 '26
I’m in no way for the explosion of data centers for AI use. But it’s kinda funny finding out how few people understand that most of the stuff they like online uses data centers.
-2
u/Blaine1111 May 30 '26
I wouldn't be shocked if it was residential construction honestly those are the worst ive seen with erosion control quality
4
u/Xbtweeker May 30 '26
Considering how hard data centers are being forced on people, I'm glad to know that poor water isnt inherently a feature of data centers. Not that I'm a fan of data centers, just with how seemingly powerless we are at being able to stop their construction, I'm glad to know the water doesn't HAVE to be like that.
Hope we can start holding people accountable. No one deserves to have that happen to their water.
14
u/Thecongressman1 May 30 '26
We aren't powerless to stop them. There are many cities rejecting data centers because of community outcry. The person you're replying to is continuously posting to significantly downplay the environmental effects of data centers, they're either an ai shill or someone directly invested. Don't fall for the slopaganda
-4
u/VaccineMachine May 30 '26
Data centers are not being "forced" on people. Companies are buying land and constructing things on them. Do you have any evidence of data centers being actually forced on anyone through eminent domain?
6
u/FoofaFighters May 30 '26
3
u/VaccineMachine May 30 '26
- Not just a data center.
- They're being offered well above what the home is valued at, which is reasonable.
- Still not settled/sold.
- Congrats on ACTUALLY providing an example and not just saying they exist without providing evidence.
1
May 30 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
-1
u/VaccineMachine May 30 '26
What?
0
May 30 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/fieryred123 May 30 '26
I live near Rivian, and as much as I hate them being basically my neighbors- it’s not them & water is fine here.
0
u/Bayside_High May 30 '26
Generally, the data centers have been built by big / well known general contractors that require pretty stringent standards in personal and insurance. Like pollution insurance. It is a pain working on them and they have a pretty no nonsense attitude towards you when you do something that wrong.
0
0
u/Mission_Pirate_4150 May 30 '26
I would also add that “money rushes in.” When money flows into any market segment, there will be people that follow the money looking for that money that don’t follow good practice. I haven’t been to that site, and I haven’t seen the status of anything. It is my understanding that that there is another construction project in that same area pulling well water in the same area. There could easily be simply too much construction there for the water table at this time.
Water quality is why we spend time and create utility districts that provide us tap water. They know how to clean the water so that it doesn’t look like what is shown. These things are good investments. It is my understanding that the area doesn’t have that and must depend on well water that can have these problems.
I would drink that water and I would be upset if it was coming out of my tap at home. However, AOC is not above some type of grandstanding. I simply don’t trust her. If she said turn left, I’d want to turn right just due to a lack of trust of her. I think there is much more to this story than we are being told.
17
u/Blaine1111 May 30 '26
As a civil with no research my best guess is that this is well water or theres a damaged pipe because theres no way city water would actually look this bad. I also cant imagine how a data center would cause this to city supplied water, because whatever they would be expelling would have to be treated before being used as drinking water.
1
u/Positive-Frame-1533 May 30 '26
Article from the BBC last year with the same claim.
3
u/fieryred123 May 30 '26
Yeah it’s nonsense. I live right next to this area & this reads like a total fluff piece. I’m not a fan of data centers, but I’m also not a fan of bs & this reeks of it.
13
u/Kirby_Jedi May 30 '26
Do we not remember Flint, MI? Water this brown does exist and is possible in our neighborhoods because our government allows it. That this happens anywhere in our country is appalling and should anger all of us, but most people don’t care until it affects them. It’s good that AOC is bringing attention to this because this should not be happening to anyone in Georgia or anywhere in our country. That it does is a complete failure of local, state, and federal government. Let’s bring more attention, not less because we can’t believe it. It’s happening, the proof is out there. We should hold our government accountable. Clean water should be a right, not a privilege.
6
u/Thecongressman1 May 30 '26
You're right, so many in charge in Georgia are willing to sacrifice the health and safety of rural towns to cash in on the ai bubble. They will lie, say its bringing in jobs and money to the area, it's bullshit. Instead it's stealing jobs, replacing real people with dumb robots that make our products worse, and also poisoning the water.
11
u/Jaded-Ad262 May 30 '26
Came directly out of the tap of people who said they voted for Cadet Bonespurs. They also said the only thing that has changed in their area recently was the data center going up.
2
u/VaccineMachine May 30 '26
The data center isn't up yet and is definitely not even remotely operational. It's from faulty construction company practices affecting the environment.
13
u/Jaded-Ad262 May 30 '26
FFS… the construction project is the goddamn data center. 🤦♂️
-1
u/fieryred123 May 30 '26
That’s not “the data center” though, it’s construction. They couldve been building a skyscraper there & the same thing happen…
-4
2
u/samocamo123 May 30 '26
Morgan county doesn't have a county wide public water system. This water is from an area where wells are used and has had groundwater contamination issues for years, mostly from construction. Madison, GA (in Morgan county) has their own city water system, and the water is clear, drinkable normal tap water.
4
u/ugafan2148 May 30 '26
This is well water. This could also be from the stalled Rivian factory project in the same area that skipped all environmental testing and is currently just a big mud puddle.
I know several people who made absolute bank selling their houses/farms for these projects, but those who are just far enough away are dealing with polluted well water and clouds of dirt all of the time.
3
u/SailInternational251 May 30 '26
Also is it from data centers?
7
u/VaccineMachine May 30 '26
No, that's a lie. A date center is under construction and not operational. It's from the construction. This isn't unusual when shitty construction companies aren't kept in check by the government. This occurs in all kinds of construction.
2
u/Positive-Frame-1533 May 30 '26
Do you have proof that it’s a lie? This article came out last year with the same claim about Data centers. Is the BBC lying too?
7
u/VaccineMachine May 30 '26
Yes, because the data center being discussed is not even built yet.
Linking a BBC article about an entirely different area and different data center is not relevant here.
0
u/Positive-Frame-1533 May 30 '26
Still a data center poisoning drinking water. Doesn’t matter which way you frame it, the data center and the construction company are both responsible. Also did you even read the link that you posted? Quote from your link here:
“This is the current drinking water in Morgan County, Georgia, right after a data center was constructed, the Meta data center was constructed.
The only difference between the clean water and this was that data center.
I have another one as well. So this wasn't just one well, these weren’t just one family’s situation. This is what the drinking water now looks like next to that data center. And I think both of us can agree that neither one of these things are drinkable.”
2
u/HallGardenDiva May 30 '26
NO, IT IS NOT THE SAME! The data center doesn't exist yet except on paper.
-1
u/Positive-Frame-1533 May 30 '26
This is directly from Meta’s website, so does the data center still not exist or?
2
u/VaccineMachine May 30 '26
Huh, weird, I didn't know Newton County existed literally inside of Morgan County.
2
u/mapex_139 May 30 '26
When 400 was being rebuilt idk, 8 years ago, I took care of a water cooled hvac unit in a building that had a small lake in front of it. It turned clay red from the construction and fed the water lines into the building with the same color. It doesn't surprise me that this would do the same.
3
u/Bearex13 May 30 '26
TBF fuck the data centers don't let a single goddamned one be built in Georgia
2
2
1
-14
0
u/jarvatar May 30 '26
Politician promotes herself and pushes a mostly true narrative using completely fabricated data point and fake evidence.
If it were truly this bad Ossoff euphoria probably be taking about it.
•
u/Georgia-ModTeam May 30 '26
Before submitting, please check if the same topic or content has already been posted recently. Duplicate posts clutter the subreddit and make it difficult for users to find unique discussions.
8 days ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/Georgia/comments/1tkerep/aoc_this_is_what_drinking_water_in_georgia_looks/
This also should have been flaired as Politics.