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 initially unaware of the construction's purpose. Her office is 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 discovered on social media that the construction was actually for a future data center, raising concerns about the potential impact on local air quality.
Author's summary: New data center construction sparks air quality concerns.