Amazon Data Centres Face Scrutiny Over Rare Cancers and Miscarriages

For years, residents in parts of rural America quietly exchanged stories that felt too disturbing to dismiss as coincidence. A neighbour who never smoked developed a rare throat cancer. A young couple experienced a miscarriage with no clear medical explanation. Middle aged adults were suddenly diagnosed with kidney failure or autoimmune disorders despite otherwise healthy lives.

These conversations took place in grocery store aisles, farm supply depots, and around kitchen tables, often ending with the same uneasy question. Could it be the water.

That question has now become the centre of a national controversy involving one of the world’s most powerful technology companies. Investigations by Rolling Stone and the Food and Environment Reporting Network have drawn attention to Amazon’s expanding network of data centres and the possibility that their enormous water use may be worsening an already serious groundwater contamination crisis. In parts of Oregon and other regions hosting large data centre campuses, residents and experts are raising alarms about rare cancers, miscarriages, and other serious health outcomes.

Amazon denies that its facilities are responsible. The company says it follows all environmental and occupational safety regulations and that existing agricultural pollution, not data centres, is the primary driver of contamination. But for families living with unsafe drinking water, the debate feels far from theoretical.

A rural county begins to notice a troubling pattern

Much of the attention has focused on Morrow County, Oregon, a sparsely populated agricultural region better known for wheat fields, cattle ranches, and food processing plants than cutting edge technology infrastructure. For decades, the county’s economy revolved around farming and livestock, and public health concerns rarely dominated local politics.

That began to change in the early 2010s when Amazon Web Services opened its first large scale data centre in the region. Over time, that initial facility expanded into a sprawling campus of massive warehouse sized buildings packed with servers powering cloud computing, streaming platforms, and artificial intelligence tools used around the world.

At first, many residents welcomed the investment. Data centres promised jobs, tax revenue, and the prestige of hosting high tech infrastructure. Local officials approved generous tax abatements and infrastructure support to attract and retain Amazon’s presence.

But as the years passed, something else began to surface. Residents started noticing an unusual number of serious illnesses in people who had lived in the area for decades. These were not conditions easily explained by lifestyle or genetics. Stories of miscarriages, rare cancers, and kidney disease kept appearing, often among families who relied on private wells for drinking water.

The water tests that changed everything

Concerned local officials and community members eventually decided to investigate. In 2022, water samples were collected from private wells across Morrow County and sent to independent laboratories for testing.

The results were alarming. According to findings cited by Rolling Stone, nearly every well tested exceeded federal safety limits for nitrates in drinking water. Some samples measured as high as 73 parts per million. Oregon’s legal limit is 7 parts per million, while the federal limit is 10 parts per million.

In the first several dozen homes visited, residents reported dozens of miscarriages, multiple cases of kidney failure, and a number of rare cancers. What once felt like isolated tragedies now appeared to be part of a broader pattern.

Public health experts caution that proving direct causation between contaminated water and individual illnesses is extremely difficult. Still, the combination of dangerously high nitrate levels and clusters of serious health conditions raised urgent concerns.

Why nitrates in drinking water are dangerous

Nitrates are not obscure industrial chemicals. They are commonly found in agricultural fertilisers, animal manure, septic systems, and industrial wastewater. In small amounts, nitrates are widespread and often overlooked.

In high concentrations, however, nitrates pose serious health risks. Medical research has linked excessive nitrate exposure to blue baby syndrome in infants, increased cancer risk, damage to organs such as the kidneys, and reproductive harm including miscarriages.

Pregnant women, infants, and young children are particularly vulnerable. Unlike municipal water systems, private wells are not always subject to routine testing or treatment, leaving rural families at higher risk of long term exposure.

Agriculture laid the groundwork for contamination

Long before data centres arrived, groundwater in parts of eastern Oregon was already under strain. Beginning in the 1990s, large scale industrial agriculture expanded rapidly in the region. Chemical fertilisers and intensive irrigation transformed arid land into highly productive farmland.

To manage wastewater from food processing plants and large dairy operations, the Port of Morrow developed a land application system. This system stored millions of gallons of nitrate laden wastewater in lagoons and later sprayed it onto nearby fields as fertiliser.

Economically, the approach made sense. Environmentally, it carried significant risks. The region’s sandy and porous soils could absorb only so much nitrogen before excess nitrates seeped downward into the Lower Umatilla Basin aquifer, the primary source of drinking water for local residents.

By the early 2000s, regulators had already documented rising nitrate levels. The problem was serious but largely invisible to families who continued drinking from their wells without knowing what was accumulating beneath their feet.

How data centres changed the equation

Investigators and environmental experts say Amazon did not create the nitrate problem. Instead, they argue that the arrival of water intensive data centres dramatically accelerated it.

Modern data centres generate enormous heat. To keep servers within safe operating temperatures, facilities rely on large volumes of cooling water. In Morrow County, that water is drawn from the same aquifer residents use for drinking.

According to the Rolling Stone investigation, water already contaminated with nitrates is pumped into data centres to cool servers. Some of that water evaporates as it absorbs heat. The nitrates do not evaporate, meaning the remaining water becomes more concentrated.

That wastewater is then sent into the Port of Morrow system, mixed with agricultural runoff, and sprayed back onto farmland. With each cycle, nitrates are pushed deeper and faster into the aquifer.

Some wastewater leaving data centre facilities reportedly tested at nitrate levels several times higher than Oregon’s safety limit.

Comparisons to Flint and why residents are alarmed

As the scope of the crisis became clearer, residents and advocates began drawing comparisons to Flint, Michigan, where officials were slow to acknowledge a water contamination disaster with devastating health consequences.

Like Flint, Morrow County includes many residents with limited political power and heavy reliance on private wells. Critics argue that warnings were ignored for years and meaningful intervention only occurred after public outcry.

For families who now rely on bottled water for drinking and cooking, the comparison does not feel dramatic. It feels accurate.

Amazon strongly denies responsibility

Amazon has consistently rejected claims that its data centres are responsible for water contamination or health problems. Company spokesperson Lisa Levandowski told Rolling Stone that reports linking data centres to nitrate pollution are misleading and inaccurate.

According to Amazon, nitrates are not used in its operations. The company argues that groundwater issues in the region significantly predate its arrival and that agricultural fertilisers, manure, septic systems, and food processing wastewater are the primary sources of contamination.

Amazon also says its facilities use and return only a small fraction of the area’s overall water supply and that scientific data does not support claims of causation.

The company has stated that the safety of employees and surrounding communities is a top priority and that it regularly monitors its facilities to ensure compliance with environmental and occupational regulations.

Living with contaminated water day to day

For residents of Morrow County, the crisis is not an abstract policy debate. It shapes daily life in countless ways.

Many families receive regular bottled water deliveries. Five gallon jugs line kitchens, garages, and basements. Some residents keep nitrate test strips on hand, dipping them into cups of coffee or glasses of tap water before drinking.

Pregnant women are often advised by doctors to avoid their own well water entirely. Parents worry about children brushing their teeth or filling cups from the tap when they are not watching.

These adjustments carry real costs. Bottled water is expensive. Storage space disappears. For older residents or those with disabilities, hauling water is physically exhausting.

The emotional toll is harder to measure. Many residents describe constant anxiety, replaying years of unexplained symptoms and wondering what damage may already have been done.

Medical uncertainty and unanswered questions

One of the most frustrating aspects for families is the lack of definitive medical answers. While scientific research links high nitrate exposure to increased health risks, proving a direct cause for any individual illness is extremely difficult.

Doctors often cannot say with certainty whether a specific cancer or miscarriage was caused by contaminated water. This uncertainty leaves families without closure or validation, even as they continue to live with exposure.

Comprehensive cancer cluster studies take years and require extensive data. In the meantime, residents continue to fall ill while waiting for answers that may never arrive.

Political fallout and community division

As concerns grew, the issue quickly became political. Local officials who pushed for emergency declarations, expanded testing, and stricter oversight faced intense backlash.

Some residents feared that drawing attention to the crisis would threaten jobs and economic stability. Others argued that safe drinking water should never be negotiable.

Elections turned bitter. Careers ended. Long standing relationships fractured. The community found itself divided between those demanding immediate action and those worried about the consequences of confronting powerful economic interests.

Lawsuits and mounting legal pressure

Legal action soon followed. Residents filed lawsuits against agricultural operators and the Port of Morrow, alleging negligence and long term harm.

Attorneys representing residents also sent formal notices signalling intent to sue Amazon under federal environmental law. These notices demand changes to wastewater practices and remediation of environmental damage.

Amazon has declined to comment on potential settlements and continues to deny responsibility.

A crisis that extends beyond Oregon

What is happening in Morrow County is no longer viewed as an isolated case. Across the United States, data centres are rapidly expanding into rural and semi rural areas attracted by cheap land, tax incentives, and access to water and power.

Communities in Ohio, the Southwest, and other agricultural regions are beginning to raise similar concerns about water use, pollution, and public health.

Researchers have also raised alarms about air pollution and energy demands associated with data centre operations, estimating significant public health and environmental costs nationwide.

Economic promises versus environmental reality

Supporters of data centre expansion argue that these facilities bring investment, tax revenue, and high paying jobs. For communities seeking economic stability, the appeal is undeniable.

Critics counter that data centres often employ relatively few workers compared to their resource demands. They argue that generous tax abatements shift financial burdens onto residents while profits flow elsewhere.

In Morrow County, residents point out that economic gains have not protected them from contaminated water or mounting medical bills.

Can the damage be reversed

Cleaning an aquifer contaminated with nitrates is an expensive and time consuming process. Experts say it could take decades to see meaningful improvement, even if pollution stopped today.

State agencies have issued fines, promised reforms, and announced investments in treatment infrastructure. Critics argue these measures came too late and remain insufficient.

Families continue to live with uncertainty, unsure whether their water will ever be safe again.

A warning for the age of artificial intelligence

The race to build artificial intelligence infrastructure is accelerating. Data centres are the physical backbone of that future.

Morrow County offers a cautionary lesson about what can happen when powerful technologies intersect with fragile ecosystems and communities with limited political leverage.

The question residents continue to ask is simple. Who bears responsibility when progress comes at the cost of public health.

The human cost of the cloud

On quiet rural roads outside Boardman, families still test their coffee with nitrate strips. They still haul water jugs. They still count neighbours diagnosed with cancer.

For them, this is not a debate about innovation or infrastructure. It is about the most basic necessity of life.

Clean water.

As data centre construction continues across the country, the experience of Morrow County stands as a stark reminder that the cloud is not abstract or weightless. It rests on real land, real water, and real people. When safeguards fail, it is those people who pay the price.

The story unfolding in eastern Oregon is still ongoing. Court cases remain unresolved. Scientific studies continue. Residents remain vigilant.

What is already clear is that the cost of the data centre boom cannot be measured only in jobs, profits, or computing power. It must also be measured in health, trust, and the expectation that turning on a kitchen tap should never feel like a gamble.