Wyoming officials say Meta’s 715,000-square-foot data center is responsible for contaminating its water system with a rare bacterium

A row of people sit in a zoning meeting, many looking down or around the room. (Credit: Natalie Behring—Getty Images)

Cheyenne, Wyoming, officials say Meta’s data center construction is responsible for the contamination of part of the town’s recycled water system.

The Board of Public Utilities (BOPU) traced the presence of a bacterium discovered in its wastewater treatment facility earlier this year to Goat Systems LLC, a Meta contractor for the tech company’s in-progress 715,000-square-foot data center campus, according to recent public notices from the BOPU.