A Meta Data Center Has Introduced a Rare Bacterium into the Waters of a City

In Cheyenne, Wyoming, the municipal wastewater recovery system has been contaminated by a rare, multi-drug-resistant bacterium. The origin is Goat Systems LLC, the company used by Meta to build its data center in the city, during the fill-and-flush operations: the filling and purging of cooling circuits that precedes the commissioning of such a facility.

The contamination was discovered in February during routine tests for fecal contamination. Frank Strong, head of the engineering and water resources division of the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities (BOPU), explained that identifying the pathogen took months: "It’s not something we normally test for. We had to follow a rather lengthy process to find out what it was." As of now, the exact source of the contamination within the Meta facility remains unknown.

The Bacterium and the Revoked Permits

The identified pathogen is Cupriavidus gilardii, a rare bacterium whose infection in humans is extremely rare but, when it occurs, can be dangerous: out of 32 known infections since 2009, the mortality rate is 31.3%, with ten deaths, three of which were immunocompromised children.

Upon completion of the investigations, the BOPU declared Goat Systems to be in "significant noncompliance" with the city’s industrial pretreatment regulations, revoking their industrial discharge permits effective March 24. The bacterium affected the municipal wastewater recycling system, which is intended for reuse and not for the drinking water network, and it has been taken offline for months of decontamination, while drinking water was never involved. As a precautionary measure, the BOPU suspended, until further notice, the acceptance of industrial wastewater from fill-and-flush operations and closed-loop systems from all data centers connected to the municipal water services, not just from Meta’s.

The Construction Site and the City’s Reaction

The affected campus is Project Cosmo, the data center that Meta is building in the High Plains Business Park: approximately 800,000 square feet for an investment of $800 million, with Fortis as the general contractor. As soon as notified by the BOPU, Fortis halted the discharge of industrial wastewater and began disposing of it elsewhere. A spokesman for Meta also reported that Fortis has initiated its own tests with an independent environmental specialist, who "found no traces of the substance."

Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins described the occurrence as "a disappointment for everyone involved," while praising the BOPU for identifying the contamination and remediating the system. City Council member Pete Laybourn was more blunt, calling it "a very, very unpleasant surprise" that could complicate the already tight agreements between the city and data center operators coming to Wyoming.