AOC presses EPA over Morgan County drinking water concerns tied to Georgia data center development
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used a congressional hearing last week to spotlight concerns from Morgan County, Georgia residents who say their drinking water has been negatively impacted by nearby data center construction.
During a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, Ocasio-Cortez questioned EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Jessica Kramer about what she described as failures to protect clean water access in rural communities facing rapid industrial development.
The exchange centered on complaints from residents living near the Stanton Springs industrial area in Morgan County, roughly 60 miles east of Atlanta, where a large Meta data center campus has been under development for years.
Ocasio-Cortez held up jars of discolored water during the hearing and said some families have resorted to shipping water to their homes for cooking and bathing.
"This is not just inconvenience," the congresswoman argued during the hearing. "This is a basic public health issue."
The concerns have gained national attention after Ocasio-Cortez appeared in a recent documentary short produced by More Perfect Union featuring conservative Morgan County residents who say their water quality changed after nearby construction intensified.
Residents interviewed in the documentary described brown or sediment-filled tap water and voiced fears about groundwater contamination.
Meta has denied the claims.
In a statement referenced in the documentary, the company said it commissioned an independent groundwater study that found the data center's construction and operations "had no impact" on nearby residents' water supply. The company also said construction and operational water usage came from local utility systems rather than groundwater sources.
Following the hearing, the EPA said Assistant Administrator Jessica Kramer directed EPA Region 4 officials to contact Georgia environmental regulators and local authorities in Morgan County to gather additional information about the complaints.
However, the agency emphasized that fact-finding efforts should not be characterized as a formal federal investigation.
"We want to be precise on one point at the outset: looking into a matter and gathering facts is not the same as opening a formal investigation," the EPA said in a statement provided to CBS News Atlanta.
According to the EPA, officials contacted the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, the Morgan County Public Health Department and the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension office following the May 20 hearing.
The Morgan County Public Health Department told EPA it had received questions from residents earlier this year regarding low water pressure and "murky" or visibly dirty water. But the department also said it had not yet received water samples submitted specifically in connection with those concerns.
The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension office, which handles broader private well testing in Georgia, also told EPA it had not seen an increase in testing requests related to the issue.
The EPA said it has requested additional documentation, complaints or testing results from Ocasio-Cortez's office.
The agency also noted that private wells are not regulated under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and that Georgia does not regulate private well water quality at the state level. EPA officials said the agency's role is largely limited to technical assistance and public guidance for private well owners.
The EPA hearing arrives as Georgia continues to experience explosive growth in data center development, especially across metro Atlanta and surrounding counties. The projects have increasingly raised questions about water usage, electrical demand and environmental oversight.
Morgan County, which overwhelmingly supported President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, has become an unlikely flashpoint in the broader national debate over Big Tech infrastructure and rural environmental protections.
Ocasio-Cortez suggested during the hearing that the issue could warrant broader congressional scrutiny, arguing that communities nationwide may face similar concerns as artificial intelligence and cloud computing fuel rapid data center expansion.
CBS News Atlanta has also reached out to Morgan County officials and Meta for additional comment regarding the concerns raised during the hearing and whether any additional state or local reviews are underway.
