Data centers raise air quality and environmental concerns in Utah, doctor says

A Utah physician is warning that 21 data centers in various stages of development could significantly worsen air quality along the Wasatch Front.

Dr. Brian Moench, with Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, said the planned data centers are cause for alarm. Each facility is expected to generate its own electricity using natural gas power plants.

While natural gas is cleaner than coal, Moench said it still produces nitrogen oxide, which contributes significantly to ozone, particulate formation, and smog.

“There’s no safe level of air pollution. All of it is harmful, even at the very lowest doses,” Moench said.

Moench said health advocates have legitimate reasons to be concerned about what the facilities could mean for public health in the region.

“There is a real legitimate concern on the part of any health advocates about what this impact will mean to the Wasatch Front and public health if all these data centers are built or even if just a few of them are, and that’s not to address the impact on the Great Salt Lake shrinking up and becoming a toxic dust bowl. That’s the next leg of this argument,” he said.

Moench also raised concerns about electronic waste. As computer chips and equipment become obsolete and are replaced, he said the volume of e-waste produced is something no one has yet addressed.

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