Benn Jordan investigates the health impacts of industrial noise pollution by recording infrasound levels near various data centers across the United States.

PBS Terra investigates one of the world’s largest AI data centers, using thermal drone footage to reveal the hidden pollution powering the AI boom. As companies race to build the future of artificial intelligence, residents and experts warn that fossil fuels, secrecy, and weak regulation may be putting communities at risk.

Reporting Highlights

• Job Promises: Washington lawmakers approved a tax break for data centers to create more jobs in rural Washington, but they can’t say how many jobs the state actually got.

• Snowballing Size: Repeated expansions turned a modest program to bring a budding industry to rural areas into one of the biggest corporate tax giveaways in the state.

• Unintended Consequences: The tax break rewarded growth of an industry whose massive demand for electricity could threaten clean energy efforts that Washington leaders have touted.

Sometimes the best way to understand something is to hear from those that have directly experienced it. This extensive New Republic oral history features people all around the country who are adjusting to the reality of what it’s like to live near a data center.

If you know someone who is convinced that data centers are a great financial investment for the future, have them look into Ed Zitron, a writer who has reported extensively on the debt bubbles propping up many of the largest tech giants. Take a watch here.

By Daesha Gear

Published: Jul. 15, 2026 at 6:36 PM CDT

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - A Topeka couple says a representative from Compass Datacenters walked away from a scheduled in-person meeting after 13 NEWS crew arrived, raising questions about transparency surrounding a proposed data center near their family land.

Ben and Carol Marple own property just off Southwest 77th Street and Burlingame Road — it’s land Ben Marple said has been owned by his family since 1857.

“We’ve had the original 80 that was homesteaded from my ancestors in 1857, and they were Baptist missionaries before Topeka was Topeka,” he said.It All Begins Here

Shawnee county neighbors surrounding the proposed data center site are being contacted by Compass Datacenters.

AI infrastructure including hyperscale data centers drives increased demand for significant water use, greater energy consumption and expanded grid infrastructure, all of which require careful management to avoid environmental and community harm.

As communities across Kansas grapple with the growth of data centers, Washburn Law Prof. Roger McEowen offers analysis of the legal landscape surrounding rural landowners and their neighbors.