Dozens of people voiced concerns at a public hearing Wednesday about the environmental impacts of the Ohio EPA’s proposal to streamline wastewater discharge permits for data centers.
In October, the Ohio EPA issued a new draft general National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for discharges from data centers. These permits regulate and limit the amount of pollution any facility can discharge into waters like the Ohio River.
Allison Cycyk with the Division of Surface Water says data center operations that meet certain eligibility criteria can be covered under the general permit.
“Sites that are generally consistent with their potential discharge and have the same environmental impact can be grouped together so the permitting is uniform,” Cycyk said.
During the public hearing, several people said they were worried having a general permit would not adequately protect water quality, especially because the size and operations of data centers can vary greatly.
Ohio has more than 215 data centers, according to Data Center Map. They range in size from small office buildings to sprawling warehouses.
“There will be variation in discharge amounts in various areas, and the availability of water is different in different parts of Ohio, and there's the inevitable concentrated impacts in various areas, including cities,” attendee Patricia Marida said. “So this is a good reason why there should not be a general permit.”
In its draft permit, the Ohio EPA said, “It has been determined that a lowering of water quality of various waters of the state associated with granting coverage under this permit is necessary to accommodate important social and economic development in the state of Ohio.”
Many people making public comments disputed that claim.
Kendra McKitrick said the proposal to issue the draft general permit doesn’t pay attention to social and economic issues around data centers.
“From the Rust Belt to Appalachia, from Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River to the Ohio River Valley, Ohioans have fallen victim to industrial pollution too many times for industries that do not sustain economic growth for future generations,” McKitrick said. “Industries have proven to rise and fall, but Ohioans will always need and deserve clean water.”
Another concern voiced by people at the hearing included the fact that the draft permit did not mention PFAS, or forever chemicals, which are often used in data centers’ cooling systems.
Representatives of environmental organizations from across the state, including the Alliance for the Great Lakes, Buckeye Lake for Tomorrow and Racoon Creek Environmental Alliance, made comments about the draft general permit during the public hearing.
The Ohio EPA says it’s received more than 3,000 comments through its online portal so far.
Ohio EPA extends public comment deadline
The Ohio EPA has extended public comment period to Jan. 16, 2026, at 5 p.m. You can submit a written comment via the Ohio EPA’s online comment portal.
What’s next?
The Ohio EPA says it will consider all relevant comments received during the comment period and from the public hearing. Then, it will issue a response to comments.
Following that, the agency director will take final action.
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