Air Quality Concerns in North Denver Neighborhood
A new data center campus is under construction in Elyria-Swansea, a neighborhood already struggling with pollution from major highways and Colorado's only oil and gas refinery.
Pamela Valenza, chief health officer at Tepeyac Community Health Center, was not initially concerned about the construction, assuming it was part of a redevelopment project to create community spaces and affordable housing.
Until last summer, Valenza assumed the excavators were at work on the final phase of the project: a long-planned affordable senior living facility.
However, she later discovered on social media that the construction was actually for a future data center, raising concerns about the potential impact on local air quality.
The neighborhood is already vulnerable due to its proximity to major highways and the oil and gas refinery, making the addition of a data center a potential threat to the health and well-being of its residents.
Author's summary: Data center construction sparks air quality concerns.