Ohio EPA considers allowing data centers to dump wastewater in state waterways

The drafted permit has specific limitations:

Ohio EPA staffers told this outlet the permit would streamline the process both for the agency and for data centers.

“Anyone looking to develop a data center in Ohio would have a very good idea of what the expectation for environmental compliance in terms of discharge to surface waters would be,” said Walter Arris, an environmental engineer with the agency’s Division of Surface Water.

Commenters on Wednesday honed in on a phrase from an Ohio EPA document informing Ohioans that the permit was in the works: “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.”

Matt Baumann, who said he wasn’t an expert but has worked on public water quality initiatives for Buckeye Lake, bemoaned the language at Wednesday’s meeting. “That is total bull,” he said.

“When I read this — this is a common person on the street — this says ‘They’re allowed to pollute the water,’“ Baumann said. ”Why would would the environmental protection agency tell them they’re allowed to pollute the water?’”

His sentiment, focused on the environmental damage that wastewater discharges could bring, was echoed by about a dozen other commenters. Given that this was a public input meeting, the Ohio EPA staffers didn’t engage with the concerns head-on during the meeting.

Afterward, however, Arris told this outlet that the general permit isn’t necessarily a shortcut for data centers to just dump polluted wastewater into Ohio’s waterways.

“They need to provide whatever treatment that they need to in order to be in eligible for this permit, or they can seek an individual permit, which may allow for different limits,” Arris said. He noted that this general permit sets “super restrictive” water quality standards at the Ohio EPA’s standards.

Today, most data centers are clustered in central Ohio and have developed partnerships with public sewer systems to route the centers’ high volume of wastewater into stormwater treatment plants.

Arris told this outlet that the current system puts a strain on stormwater treatment plants, and limits data centers to areas that have the capacity for such a high volume of wastewater. He said the Ohio EPA has seen a recent influx of inquiries ranging outside the central Ohio area.

One project is in the works on 141 acres of land in the city of Trenton in Butler County. The city sold the land to real estate developer Prologis in mid-October for $7.7 million. The plans, reviewed by this outlet, are for a data center called “Project Mila.”

Barry Blankenship, a Trenton resident who’s attempting to preempt the project through a city-wide referendum, came to Columbus Wednesday to listen to others’ concerns and speak in opposition to the state’s drafted permit.

“What that draft said in there ... says that data centers have carte blanche to do whatever they want to,” he told this outlet after the meeting. “That’s the gathering I took.”

The Ohio EPA’s public comment period for the drafted permit is open until Jan. 16, 2026. The public can submit written comments via the Ohio EPA’s website. Once the comment period is over, the agency will review the comments and issue a response. Ohio EPA Director John Logue has the final say over the permit’s approval.

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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.