Overview
- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez showed two jars of murky water during a congressional subcommittee hearing Wednesday to press the EPA about complaints from Morgan County, Georgia.
- Residents near Meta’s 2.5 million‑square‑foot site say their private wells turned brown, appliances failed, water pressure fell, and household water costs rose after clear‑cutting and blasting began.
- Jessica Kramer, the EPA’s assistant administrator for water, said the agency will look into the specific complaints but has not yet tied the problems to Meta’s work.
- Kramer also said she is not aware of any federal rule that requires baseline well testing before data‑center construction, an omission that critics say is exposed by recent moves to speed permitting.
- Lawmakers have called for a full congressional probe, and the next steps to watch are EPA or third‑party test results, any formal inquiry into Meta’s site work, and potential changes to permitting rules.