Welcome to another roundup of whats happening with data center development in the U.S.
A recent article about PFAS use at data centers has me feeling a little déjà vu. We’ve seen this before.
Years ago, HHN leaders helped connect the dots between “forever chemicals” and fracking. We learned how fast a seemingly small technical detail can turn into a major community health issue when companies don’t have to fully disclose what they’re using or where it ends up.
This article from Sierraexplains how PFAS are showing up again in the data centers powering AI technology, and the chip-manufacturing supply chain that supports them. The question isn’t whether PFAS are being used, but how much is leaking into air and water, and who’s expected to live with the consequences.
Read on for more details.
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This bi-weekly newsletter is a new project from Halt the Harm Network. For more regular updates and meetups on data center organizing, request access to the Stop Bad Data Centers group inside the HHN community space.
What We’re Following
Chip Waste is Forever: PFAS Fact Sheet
PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a large class of long-lasting “forever chemicals” that persist and build up in the environment and in our bodies. They are ubiquitous, used in everything from household products to industrial processing, and have been linked to higher risk of disease, including cancer, hormone disruption, and developmental harms in infants and children.
Want to go deeper on what PFAS are and why they matter for community health? CHIPS Communities United has years of experience confronting PFAS contamination from industrial waste. They offer practical guidance and resources you can use to make stronger PFAS protections part of your local campaign.
Here’s a quick fact sheet to get started.
Data Centers Have a PFAS Problem
PFAS can show up across the data center supply chain, from chip-making to the systems that keep servers cool. Even small amounts of PFAS exposure has been linked to serious health harms, including increased cancer risk, immune disruption, and developmental impacts.
In semiconductor manufacturing, PFAS are used in production processes and have been detected in industrial wastewater, even as monitoring and safeguards lag behind. And inside data centers themselves, PFAS-based refrigerants and immersion-cooling fluids can escape into the air or seep into water, turning “behind-the-scenes” infrastructure into a pollution risk.
A People’s History of the Fight Against xAI
Memphis organizers already proved they can win big: they helped stop the Byhalia pipeline by building tight relationships across the city and showing up until leaders had to listen. Now they’re carrying that same people-powered network into the next fight by pushing back on xAI’s expansion and the pollution it brings to their neighborhoods.
Read about the fight in Memphis here.
Event Recap
All event replays can be found in the Recordings Space in the HHN Network.
Data Center Tax Abatements: Why States and Localities Must Disclose These Soaring Revenue Losses
Many states and local governments are giving away massive tax breaks to data center developers, resulting in billions of dollars in lost public revenue. In fact, new research shows that at least 14 states and many localities aren’t even reporting these losses, despite accounting rules requiring them to do so.
In this webinar, Anthony Elmo will walk through findings from Good Jobs First’s latest report, Data Center Tax Abatements: Why States and Localities Must Disclose These Soaring Revenue Losses. Together, we’ll unpack how these tax abatements work, why so many are kept out of public view, and what it means for communities, public budgets, and essential services like schools and infrastructure.
Learn more and watch the replay here.
Gateway 1: Site Selection and Land Acquisition
We’re back to the beginning of the Bad Data Centers Gateway webinar series, covering one of the seven “gateways” every two weeks. Participants in our Gateway 1 session shared how hard it can be to spot early moves because they are often hidden behind multiple corporate names and non-disclosure agreements.
Some work arounds for this include monitoring adjacent land buys, scanning planning board minutes, and tapping local networks—plus tools like crowd-sourced trackers, the National Zoning Atlas, and keeping an eye on activity at nearby power plants).
We also talked about pushing back on secrecy across a wide range of political viewpoints, and how projects that hit repeated roadblocks sometimes don’t get built at all—especially amid constraints like gas turbines and worries about small nuclear reactors.
For the full resource list, visit the Gateway 1 resources page.
Join Network Fellow Tamara Saltman for the next working group on Wednesday May 20 (12–1pm ET) to learn how data centers get power and how communities can influence those choices.
Read Tamara’s full Gateway 1 recap here.
Upcoming Events
Building a National Movement to Fight AI Data Centers: Organizing Training Series
The Data Center Working Group, Kairos Fellowship, and Fight Oligarchy team are offering a five-part training series to support organizing and campaign efforts to stop the expansion of data centers.
Each session covers key skills and techniques to help groups build winning coalitions, strategies, and campaigns. Sessions have a progressive structure with each workshop building upon the previous one, as well as individual workshops that can be taken as standalones. This series is part of the larger work of building a movement to advance an alternative vision of a society where our communities determine their own economies and futures.
The first session is Tuesday, May 19th.
Gateway 2: Data Center Power & Utility Interconnection
Data centers can’t get built without power. At Gateway 2, communities have real leverage to shape or stop projects by intervening in utility approvals.
In this session, we’ll dig into the key decision points handled by utilities, grid operators, and Public Utility Commissions (PUCs), and share strategies like requesting and reviewing interconnection studies, challenging weak grid impact analyses, exposing rate increase projections, and building coalitions with consumer advocates and local businesses.
Participants will share on-the-ground experience, tools, resources, and information towards a set of refined tools and knowledge the whole network can use.
Chemical Disclosure and FOIA Requests Q&A with Environmental Attorney Dusty Horwitt
Chemical disclosure can be the missing piece in building a winning campaign. Yet the information you need is often buried behind legal complexity, agency red tape, and industry secrecy.
Join environmental attorney Dusty Horwitt for a workshop on how he helps leaders obtain and deploy that information strategically.
Dusty’s work has helped pass Colorado’s landmark PFAS ban in oil and gas wells, protected the Delaware River Basin from fracking, and advanced chemical disclosure efforts in 16 states.
Closing Comment
For organizers and frontline communities, the harmful impacts of data centers and chip plants are a lived reality. The good news is: When we share information early, connect the dots across places, and keep showing up together, we get leverage.
If you have on-the-ground stories or evidence about data center impacts, please let us know. Even small details can help other communities prepare and respond sooner.
And if you’re fighting a data center project in your community, we can also help you figure out where the decisions are happening and what to do next. Just hit reply to this email.
More soon,
Elissa
