Microsoft is planning a large data center campus on roughly 1000 acres in Granger, Indiana at the old St. Joe Farm, to support cloud and AI operations. The facility is expected to rely on site natural gas turbines, which emit toxic pollutants including nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds, all linked to respiratory and environmental harm. The data center is also projected to use approximately 3–5 million gallons of water per day for cooling, raising concerns about long-term strain on local water resources.
WHAT'S AT RISKAmazon is developing a massive artificial intelligence data center campus near New Carlisle, Indiana, covering roughly 1,200 acres of former farmland in St. Joseph County. Announced in 2024, the project consists of multiple large-scale facilities that will consume enough electricity to power a whole city each day and millions of gallons of water a day for cooling and operations. It is one of the largest data center developments in the nation and has raised concerns about long-term resource use and local impact. The county and state awarded Amazon $8 billion in tax breaks extending as long as 50 years.
WHAT'S AT RISKLarge data centers like the ones being built or proposed in St. Joseph County, Indiana, use 3–5 million gallons of water each day to cool computer chips; this water is evaporated and not returned to the local water supply. Annually, this equates to about 400 million gallons per year from just one data center, and St. Joseph County officials want to build more.
One of the arguments we often hear is the closed-loop system. These are actually almost worse. While they don't use as much water (still millions of gallons annually), closed-loop systems use toxic chemicals to cool computer chips that are then released into the water supply.
Gas turbines used to power data centers release a mix of harmful air pollutants into the environment at ground level. These include nitrogen oxides (NOₓ), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and fine particulate matter (PM), all of which contribute to smog, acid rain, and respiratory problems. They also emit carbon dioxide (CO₂),Formaldehyde, aldehydes, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and trace metals, making turbine emissions a significant source of both local air pollution and global greenhouse gases.
Life expectancy is 9 years less and cancer rates are four times higher than the national average in areas near data centers. Areas with high particulate matter linked to asthma, heart disease, and cancer, with an 8% increase over the national average for breast cancer. A study by University of California, Riverside and Caltech estimates that by 2030, the pollution burden from data-center/AI-power generation in the U.S. could cause ~1,300 premature deaths per year (range ~940-1,590) and health/economic costs nearing $20 billion annually.
Data centers use an unimaginable amount of energy and resources to both power the facility and cool computer chips. Data centers us between 3-5 million gallons of water a day. They also use about 2.4 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) per day of electricity, that's enough electricity to run a whole city used each day. When it comes to gas, data centers use about 8–10 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas per year, again it's the same with electricity, that's enough gas to power a city that data centers use each day.
The economic impact of a data center in a community deeming it a health hazard has a rippling effect, from property value to the job market. It's estimated that in the first year alone it would cost St. Joseph county 1.2 billion dollars. Property value decline $1.2 billion. Notre Dame lost revenue $70-80 million. Local tax revenue loss $22-23 million. Environmental remediation $50-200 million. Out-migration and spending $150 million, and with an estimated loss of 6000 jobs. As well as billions awarded in tax breaks by the county and state.
On Tuesday, November 9th, with 300 people in attendance and 200 online showed up to the City Council meeting for the New Carlisle proposed data center zoning vote in opposition. After ten long hours of listening to people from the community speak, the Council, in a bipartisan vote, voted 7-2 denying the zoning for the proposed data center, stopping any development. It was a huge win for the community, and shows that activism works.
900+ Acres at between Bittersweet Rd, Cleveland Rd, and State Rd 23, at the location of the old St. Joe Farm, Granger, IN.
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