Cheyenne’s water system bacteria issue widened on Thursday when Cheyenne’s Board of Public Utilities suspended acceptance of wastewater tied to data center systems after a Meta contractor contaminated the city’s wastewater system with Cupriavidus gilardii. The city said the move applies until further notice and follows months of cleanup.
Cheyenne City Councilman Pete Laybourn called the contamination "It's a very, very unpleasant surprise," and added, "I have a lot yet to learn. It definitely complicates matters." Mayor Patrick Collins said, "I think it's a disappointment to everyone involved."
Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities
Cheyenne’s Board of Public Utilities said the contamination was first discovered in February. After being notified, Goat Systems immediately stopped discharging wastewater from fill-and-flush operations at Meta’s Cheyenne Data Center CHY 1-2.
Effective March 24, BOPU revoked Goat Systems’ industrial discharge privileges for those operations. Goat Systems LLC was also in significant noncompliance with the city’s industrial pretreatment regulations, and the bacterium interfered with operations at the city’s water reclamation facilities.
Goat Systems LLC and Meta
Goat Systems LLC is the corporate entity Meta uses for construction of its Cheyenne data center campus known during development as Project Cosmo. The contamination also affected the municipal reuse water system, which left Cheyenne suspending acceptance of industrial wastewater from data center fill-and-flush and closed-loop system operations while BOPU evaluates how to prevent future incidents.
Laybourn said, "It's about the last thing we need right now," and, "But it's a reality we're going to have to work through." The question now is what standards Cheyenne will require before it accepts that wastewater again.
