AI data center project secretly sucked 29 million gallons of water over 15 months before detected by residents complaining about low water pressure — officials refuse to fine builders of massive 6.2 million-square-foot facility over unauthorized water use
www.tomshardware.com
County's soft touch is attributed to the data center being 'our largest customer, and we have to be partners.'
  • melsaskca@lemmy.caEnglish
    111·
    4 hours ago

    “Let’s see…oh…sorry, but all of the officials in this area have already been paid off.”

  • zebidiah@lemmy.caEnglish
    101·
    4 hours ago

    People elect clowns and then act surprised when they get a pie in the face…

  • oh_@lemmy.worldEnglish
    261·
    6 hours ago

    Stole. The correct word is stole. Nice to know the officials got the proper bribes. Nothing to see here.

  • Eternal192@anarchist.nexusEnglish
    261·
    13 hours ago

    Because their pockets are full of bribes, they need to spend some of it before they can do anything and “officials” that refuse to fight and protect those that they represent should be removed from office.

    • myrmidex@belgae.socialEnglish
      51·
      5 hours ago

      I’d go one further: If bribing lobbying was proven, the politicians should not only be removed, they should also be just as liable for damages as the company is/should be.

      • Eternal192@anarchist.nexusEnglish
        2·
        1 hour ago

        That’s why so many laws and a lot of intentional loopholes were created so they can protect themselves and the best way to fight this kind of corruption is the Luigi way, the infestation is serious, time to call pest control.

  • db2@lemmy.worldEnglish
    271·
    14 hours ago

    If there’s no law then there’s no law. Act accordingly.

    • meco03211@lemmy.worldEnglish
      111·
      14 hours ago

      I’ll siphon millions of gains of water myself then. Then I can sell it to the data center at a premium markup! It’s foolproof.

    • hume_lemmy@lemmy.caEnglish
      51·
      6 hours ago

      They’re still cool! Because of the water they stole for their cooling systems.

  • Sandbar_Trekker@lemmy.todayEnglish
    711·
    12 hours ago

    Some important context here:

    QTS told Politico the 29 million gallons were consumed during temporary construction activities, including concrete work, dust control, and site preparation. The company markets a “closed-loop” cooling system for its data centers, which recirculates the same water rather than drawing from the municipal supply.

    • nublug@piefed.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      132·
      3 hours ago

      construction projects don’t usually use secret unmetered hookups the water company doesn’t know about, bud.

      some important context here: almost every comment from above user is correcting the record in ai posts like this.

      • joe@lemmy.worldEnglish
        24·
        6 hours ago

        That context isn’t important at all, unless you’re implying that the correction is wrong or misleading.

        I think it’s useful to bring attention to the fact that this isn’t water being used by the data center for operations, but for its construction.

        And let’s be real, there’s a ridiculous amount of misinformation surrounding co-called “AI”, both pro and con. Someone providing context and clarification isn’t something I’d complain about. (With the caveats above.)

        • [deleted]@piefed.worldEnglish
          23·
          4 hours ago

          I think it’s useful to bring attention to the fact that this isn’t water being used by the data center for operations, but for its construction.

          Oh, I guess them stealing 29 million gallons of water is fine because it was during construction then. Great point, not completely ridiculous.