Environmental advocate Erin Brockovich is warning that the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence data centers could place enormous pressure on America’s water supplies, electric grid, utility customers, and communities living near the massive facilities.
During an appearance on the “Shawn Ryan Show,” Brockovich told former Navy SEAL and podcaster Shawn Ryan that some data centers may use as much as 30 million gallons of water to keep computer equipment cool.
She said residents near some facilities have reported wells running dry, falling water pressure, discolored water, higher utility bills, constant industrial noise, and other changes that began during construction or after a center started operating.
Many of the examples Brockovich described were reports sent to her by residents or whistleblowers rather than findings independently established during the interview. Even so, she argued that the volume and consistency of the complaints should push regulators to investigate before data center construction grows even faster.
Brockovich Says Cooling Is Draining Water Supplies
When Ryan asked about the environmental impact of data centers, Brockovich immediately focused on water consumption.
She said the facilities require enormous amounts of water to keep servers and other equipment from overheating, drawing from municipal systems and underground aquifers that nearby residents also depend on.
“People with their own wells are reporting that their wells are running dry,” Brockovich said, adding that some homeowners have been forced to consider drilling deeper.
Ryan reacted with disbelief when Brockovich described the possible scale of the demand.
He asked what size city might use 30 million gallons, and the discussion compared that amount with the needs of a community of roughly 50,000 people.
Brockovich argued that building water-intensive facilities in hot or drought-restricted regions made little sense when many local governments were already limiting lawn watering and warning about future shortages.
She said data centers often need access to water, cooler temperatures, and large amounts of land, yet developers were placing them in states already struggling with heat and limited water resources.
The conflict is easy to understand. Residents are regularly told to conserve, while industrial projects may be approved to consume amounts that ordinary households could never approach.
Massive Facilities Are Being Built Near Homes
Brockovich described some data center campuses as being as large as 20 superstores or more.
She said construction can require clearing trees, disturbing land, and placing industrial facilities close to homes, farms, wells, and existing utility systems.
Ryan said the development map he had seen appeared to cover much of the country, leaving few obvious places untouched by the industry’s expansion.
“There’s nowhere to move to,” he said.
Brockovich agreed that the issue was national rather than limited to one region.
She also questioned whether the country’s aging electric and water infrastructure could handle the additional strain without shifting costs onto ordinary customers.
Her concern was not that every data center would create an immediate crisis. It was that hundreds of large projects could be approved separately without anyone fully accounting for their combined impact.
That is one of the weaknesses of local development decisions. A single project may appear manageable on paper, while the total demand created by several facilities can become much larger than officials originally planned for.
Closed Cooling Systems Still Create Waste Concerns
Ryan asked whether the cooling water could simply be reused.
Brockovich said closed-loop cooling systems could reduce ongoing consumption by circulating water, but she warned that those systems still require chemicals and eventually need to be cleaned.
Her question was what happens to the contaminated water when the system is drained.
Brockovich said whistleblowers had told her that waste from some operating facilities was being discharged into sewer systems without sufficient oversight.
She claimed testing was beginning to show heavily contaminated water, although the interview did not identify individual facilities, provide laboratory results, or establish specific regulatory violations.
Brockovich said the issue reminded her of advice from her father, a mechanical engineer: “The solution to pollution is not dilution.”
She argued that running polluted water through a system or releasing it into a river did not remove the contaminants. It merely moved them somewhere else.
Even a closed system eventually produces waste that must be handled responsibly. The important questions are what chemicals are present, where the water is discharged, how it is treated, and who verifies that the process is safe.
Brockovich said she feared companies were rushing to build before stronger rules were adopted, describing the current environment as a “free-for-all.”
Residents Report Wells, Pressure and Bills Changing
Brockovich told Ryan that people near data center developments were reporting changes even during the construction stage.
Heavy equipment and ground disturbance may affect wells, she said, while intensive pumping can lower the water table.
Some residents had described water becoming brown, cloudy, dirty, or brackish. Others said their water pressure had dropped to a trickle or stopped completely.
Brockovich acknowledged that discolored water can have several causes, but said the timing of repeated complaints around construction deserved attention.
She also claimed some households had experienced dramatic utility increases.
According to reports sent to her, one person’s monthly water bill rose from about $40 to $800, while another electric bill increased from roughly $160 to $440.
She said someone in El Paso, Texas, received a municipal notice warning of a possible 75% increase in utility costs.
The interview did not independently confirm those individual figures or establish that data centers were solely responsible. However, Brockovich’s larger concern was that infrastructure upgrades and additional energy or water costs could eventually be passed to the public.
Ryan summarized that fear bluntly: residents could end up paying for the resources consumed by facilities built for some of the world’s largest technology companies.
Noise and Air Quality Are Also Raising Questions
The discussion expanded beyond water when Ryan asked whether data centers affected the air.
Brockovich pointed to diesel equipment, construction machinery, and backup generators used to build and operate large facilities.
She also highlighted constant noise.
Residents near operating data centers, she said, had reported hearing a low humming, buzzing, or grinding sound around the clock.
Brockovich claimed some people described the noise as mentally exhausting and said it was contributing to stress and other health complaints.
She also relayed reports of chronic fatigue, seizure-like symptoms, and other problems among residents, but the podcast did not present medical studies establishing a direct link between those symptoms and data center operations.
The distinction is important. Community complaints should be documented and investigated, but reports of symptoms are not the same as proof that one source caused them.
Brockovich’s argument was that officials should not dismiss those reports simply because the science is not yet complete.
People living beside an industrial project are often the first to notice changes, and their experiences can provide an early warning that deserves serious testing.
Farmers Say Wildlife and Livestock Are Changing
Brockovich also said residents had contacted her about possible effects on animals and wildlife.
She described a Texas farmer who claimed there had not been a live birth among his animals for two years after a nearby data center began operating.
The farmer apparently questioned whether high-frequency sound or another environmental change could be affecting developing animals.
Brockovich said migratory routes had also reportedly changed in some areas, with residents noticing fewer birds and other wildlife after land was cleared.
She did not claim to know the cause.
“Don’t know,” she said when discussing whether sound could affect animals in the womb.
That caution matters because unusual animal behavior can result from many factors, including habitat loss, construction activity, drought, heat, disease, noise, or changes in food and water.
Still, removing large amounts of vegetation and introducing constant industrial activity will inevitably alter the surrounding environment to some degree.
The question is whether developers and local governments are measuring those changes before approving more projects.
Brockovich Calls for Oversight Before Expansion Accelerates
Brockovich said public pressure had already led to some moratoriums, bans, and temporary pauses, while federal officials were beginning to consider stronger oversight.
She called for clear answers about how much water and electricity each facility would use, what chemicals would enter cooling systems, how waste would be treated, and what costs would fall on taxpayers and utility customers.
“It can’t be done this way,” she told Ryan.
Her message was not that artificial intelligence should disappear or that all data centers should be stopped. It was that the country should not repeat earlier environmental mistakes by building first and investigating harm later.
Brockovich said she had watched that pattern since beginning her work in Hinkley, California, decades ago.
She was 31 at the time, she told Ryan, and was now 66 and a grandmother of five, yet she believed industries and regulators were still repeating the same decisions while expecting a different result.
The technology behind AI may be new, but the conflict is familiar: a powerful industry wants rapid expansion, local officials want investment, and nearby residents are asked to trust that the environmental consequences will remain under control.
Brockovich believes that trust should be replaced with measurement, transparency, and enforceable rules.
Her strongest point was also the simplest. Water is not an unlimited industrial input, especially in places already facing drought, population growth, and aging infrastructure.
If AI development requires communities to choose between household wells, affordable utilities, and vast new computing facilities, the country needs to understand that tradeoff before the water is gone.
Raised in a small Arizona town, Kevin grew up surrounded by rugged desert landscapes and a family of hunters. His background in competitive shooting and firearms training has made him an authority on self-defense and gun safety. A certified firearms instructor, Kevin teaches others how to properly handle and maintain their weapons, whether for hunting, home defense, or survival situations. His writing focuses on responsible gun ownership, marksmanship, and the role of firearms in personal preparedness.
