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Some experts believe, that combination is leading to an alarmingly high concentration of nitrates in the drinking water that is driving up cancer and miscarriage rates in the area.
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Rolling Stone was the first to publish the claim linking data centers to health issues. The article focused on the Lower Umatilla Basin, where a data center came online in 2011. In 1990, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) officially declared the basin a groundwater management area because of nitrate contamination. Health concerns related to nitrates in the area were already being raised in the 1980s and are unrelated to data centers. There are indirect health issues because of the 100 MW of power they consume. Data centers are the price we pay for this forum.