For more than a decade, residents of Morrow County, Oregon, were told that the arrival of massive data centers would bring stability, jobs, and long term economic growth. In a rural region shaped by agriculture and limited opportunity, the promise of high tech investment carried real weight. Data centers were presented as clean, quiet, and largely invisible neighbors that would help anchor the county’s future.

Today, many residents believe that promise came with a hidden cost. A growing body of investigative reporting, public health data, and firsthand testimony now links the expansion of Amazon Web Services data centers to alarming increases in rare cancers, miscarriages, and other serious health conditions. At the center of the controversy is water. Specifically, drinking water contaminated with nitrates at levels far above what health experts consider safe.

Amazon strongly denies responsibility, pointing instead to decades of agricultural pollution in the region. But environmental experts, local officials, and advocacy groups argue that the scale and mechanics of industrial data center water use may have dramatically worsened an already dangerous situation. What is unfolding in Morrow County has become a national warning about how the rapid growth of digital infrastructure can collide with fragile ecosystems and vulnerable communities.

A County Shaped by Agriculture and Groundwater Dependence

Morrow County sits in eastern Oregon, a landscape dominated by large scale farming, cattle operations, and food processing plants. The local economy has long depended on agriculture, particularly industrial dairy farms that produce vast amounts of fertilizer and manure waste. Over time, that waste has contributed to nitrate pollution in the Lower Umatilla Basin aquifer.

The aquifer is not just one of several water sources. It is the only source of drinking water for as many as 45,000 residents across the region. Most rural households rely on private wells rather than centralized municipal systems, which means contamination often goes undetected for years.

Long before data centers arrived, state and federal agencies were already concerned about nitrate levels in the groundwater. Parts of the basin were designated as a groundwater management area due to chronic violations of safety thresholds. Cleanup efforts moved slowly, enforcement was limited, and many residents were unaware of the risks.

That was the environmental baseline when Amazon Web Services began building data centers in Morrow County in 2011.

The Arrival of Amazon’s Data Centers

Amazon’s facilities were welcomed by many local leaders. The company promised jobs, tax revenue, and infrastructure investment. In a sparsely populated county, even a modest number of permanent positions felt significant. The data centers were also seen as symbols of modernity, linking the rural county to the global digital economy.

What received far less public attention was water use. Data centers require enormous amounts of water to keep servers from overheating. In Morrow County, individual facilities have been reported to draw up to 1.5 million gallons of groundwater per day for cooling.

This water is pulled directly from the same aquifer residents rely on for drinking. After being used, much of it is discharged into local wastewater systems managed by the Port of Morrow. From there, treated wastewater is often applied to farmland for irrigation.

At scale, this cycle introduced a new industrial force into an already stressed system.

Understanding Nitrates and Why They Matter

Nitrates are nitrogen based compounds commonly found in fertilizers. When fertilizers and manure are applied to farmland, nitrates can seep into soil and eventually reach groundwater. In small amounts, nitrates are manageable. In high concentrations, they are dangerous.

The federal drinking water limit for nitrates is 10 parts per million. Oregon’s standard is even stricter at 7 parts per million. These thresholds exist because decades of research have linked nitrate exposure to serious health risks.

Health effects associated with elevated nitrate levels include reduced oxygen in the blood of infants, certain gastrointestinal cancers, thyroid disease, and reproductive harm. Chronic exposure has been linked to non Hodgkin lymphoma and gastric cancers. Some studies suggest that long term exposure above 5 parts per million already increases cancer risk.

In Morrow County, testing revealed nitrate concentrations as high as 73 parts per million in some wells. Investigators reported that 68 out of 70 tested wells exceeded the federal safety limit. These numbers place the region among the most contaminated groundwater areas in the United States.

How Data Centers Can Intensify Contamination

Amazon does not add nitrates to its cooling water. On that point, the company is correct. The concern raised by environmental experts is not about direct chemical use but about physical concentration and recycling.

When groundwater already contaminated with nitrates is drawn into data centers, some of the water evaporates during cooling. The nitrates do not evaporate. This means the remaining water becomes more concentrated.

That concentrated wastewater is then discharged into treatment systems that were not designed to remove nitrates at such levels. The treated water is applied to farmland, where porous sandy soils allow it to seep quickly back into the aquifer.

Experts describe this as a feedback loop. Contaminated water is extracted, concentrated, discharged, and returned to the ground at higher nitrate levels than before. Over time, this process can significantly accelerate groundwater pollution.

Investigators cited by Rolling Stone estimated that this industrial water cycle may have doubled nitrate loads in parts of the aquifer since the arrival of Amazon’s facilities.

Health Impacts Emerging Across the Community

Statistics alone do not capture the human toll. Residents in towns like Boardman describe a steady rise in illnesses that feel impossible to dismiss as coincidence.

County health records and local reporting point to cancer rates roughly 40 percent higher than Oregon state averages. Particularly troubling are cases of rare cancers that typically appear in much older populations.

Soft tissue sarcomas, for example, have been diagnosed in young adults. These cancers are rare nationwide and have been linked in some studies to nitrate related DNA damage. Physicians in the area also report increases in kidney disease and muscle disorders among farmworkers who are exposed through both drinking water and irrigation.

Reproductive health data has been especially alarming. Miscarriages reportedly increased by around 25 percent between 2015 and 2024, a period that closely tracks major expansions of data center capacity in the county.

Former county commissioner Jim Doherty described visiting homes that relied on private wells. Of the first thirty households he visited, he reported hearing of at least twenty five miscarriages and multiple cases of severe organ damage, including kidney removal.

Echoes of Other Water Crises

Advocacy groups and residents have repeatedly compared Morrow County’s situation to Flint, Michigan. The parallels are uncomfortable. In both cases, warnings surfaced early. In both cases, officials debated causation while residents continued drinking contaminated water. In both cases, those affected had limited political power.

Kristin Ostrom, executive director of Oregon Rural Action, has pointed out that roughly 40 percent of Morrow County residents live below the poverty line. Many lack access to regular medical care or the resources to install expensive filtration systems.

For families already struggling to make ends meet, bottled water and medical testing are not minor inconveniences. They are ongoing financial burdens layered onto health fears.

Amazon’s Defense and Corporate Position

Amazon has consistently rejected claims that its data centers are responsible for the health crisis. Company spokesperson Lisa Levandowski has called the reporting misleading and inaccurate.

Amazon’s position rests on several points. The company emphasizes that nitrates are not used in data center operations. It argues that groundwater contamination predates its arrival in Morrow County by decades. It also states that the volume of water used and returned by its facilities represents only a small fraction of the overall water system.

In response to broader criticism, Amazon highlights sustainability initiatives, including closed loop cooling systems and increased use of recycled wastewater at newer facilities. The company has announced that more than 120 data centers now use reclaimed water instead of fresh drinking water.

Critics counter that these measures do little to address legacy damage or cumulative impacts in places like Morrow County, where permits did not fully consider how industrial scale water use would interact with existing pollution.

Regulatory Oversight and Missed Warnings

One of the most troubling aspects of the situation is how long it took for the problem to gain serious attention. Groundwater nitrate violations were documented years before health outcomes became widely reported.

Environmental permits governing wastewater discharge focused on individual facilities rather than cumulative effects. Private wells were largely unmonitored. Residents were often responsible for their own testing, which many could not afford.

In Ohio, where more than 130 data centers are clustered around central cities, regulators are now debating new permits specifically for data centers. Draft rules would allow certain discharges while banning others. Notably, nitrates are often absent from prohibited pollutant lists.

This regulatory gap has raised concerns that Morrow County may not be an outlier but an early warning.

A National Issue Extending Beyond Oregon

The growth of data centers is accelerating nationwide. Analysts project that data centers could increase United States electricity demand by more than 10 percent within the next few years. Water demand is rising alongside energy use.

Researchers at Caltech estimate that pollution associated with data centers could contribute to roughly 1,300 premature deaths annually in the United States by 2030, largely due to air quality impacts from power generation.

Water impacts are less studied but increasingly visible. Many new data centers are built in regions already facing water stress. Rural communities often lack the infrastructure and political leverage to push back.

Residents in central Ohio, Northern Virginia, Arizona, and parts of Texas have begun raising similar questions about water withdrawals, noise, light pollution, and long term health effects.

Environmental Justice and Community Burden

At its core, the crisis in Morrow County raises environmental justice questions. Who bears the risks of modern infrastructure, and who reaps the benefits.

The data processed in Oregon supports global commerce, entertainment, and artificial intelligence development. The profits flow outward. The health risks remain local.

Residents like Kathy Mendoza have asked how decision makers can live with knowing that water delivered to homes may be causing miscarriages, cancer, or developmental harm in children.

For many families, relocation is not an option. Homes are tied to land, work, and generational roots. The choice becomes one of endurance rather than escape.

Possible Paths Forward

Experts say the situation is not without solutions, but action must be decisive. Proposed measures include mandatory use of non potable or recycled water for cooling, strict nitrate discharge caps, comprehensive groundwater monitoring, and independent health impact assessments before approving new data centers.

Some advocates call for moratoriums on new facilities in groundwater management areas until contamination is reduced.

Others argue for corporate accountability funds to support medical monitoring and water treatment for affected residents.

What is clear is that incremental changes may not be enough.

A Warning Written in Water

The story unfolding in Morrow County forces a broader reckoning with the hidden costs of digital progress. Data centers are often described as clean and intangible, yet their physical footprints are enormous.

In eastern Oregon, innovation arrived quietly. Pipes were buried. Servers hummed. Promises were made. Over time, the water told a different story.

Whether or not Amazon is ultimately found legally responsible, the experience of Morrow County highlights what can happen when industrial growth outpaces environmental safeguards.

As communities across the country weigh the arrival of data centers, the lesson from Oregon is stark. The future may be powered by data, but it is sustained by water. When that water is compromised, the cost is measured not in profits or downloads, but in human lives.

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