Residents in a rural Georgia community are looking to an unexpected political figure to help them deal with water issues near a massive tech facility.
Morgan County, Georgia, sits about 60 miles east of Atlanta. In the 2024 presidential election, more than 70 percent of local voters cast their ballots for Donald Trump. Yet, several residents are now welcoming New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a well-known progressive Democrat, to help them challenge a Meta data center built in their area.
The unusual partnership is the focus of a new short documentary by the media organization More Perfect Union. The film features local residents Beverly and Jeff Morris, whose home stands just 400 feet from the 2.5 million square-foot Meta facility.
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The Morris family and other neighbors state that they have lacked access to clean tap water since construction on the data center started in 2018. During the documentary, Beverly Morris showed Ocasio-Cortez a bottle of tap water from her home that appeared brown and filled with sediment.
“If there’s a chance that anything can be done, I feel like she is going to be the one to do it,” Beverly Morris said in the film. “We need her.”
Her husband, Jeff Morris, noted that meeting the congresswoman changed his perspective. “It was a good surprise,” he said. “I feel like she cares about our situation.”
Ocasio-Cortez compared the situation to past corporate disputes. “We’ve seen this playbook before from big companies,” she said. “The only thing that’s changed was that spot opening up across the street.”
She added that lawmakers in Washington often hear from corporate lobbyists who claim local water issues “are actually not that serious” or are “kind of like an urban legend.”
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Following her visit, Ocasio-Cortez brought the issue to Washington. During a hearing with the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, she questioned Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Assistant Administrator for Water Jessica Kramer. The congresswoman displayed two jars of the discolored Georgia water during the session.
“These families now have to ship, in a rural area, have to ship water to their house in order to cook and bathe themselves,” Ocasio-Cortez stated during the hearing. She suggested the situation might justify a national congressional inquiry due to the broad impact data centers can have on state water supplies.
Meta defended its operations and construction practices in a statement. Company spokesperson Ryan Daniels stated that the tech giant coordinates with local utilities to prevent public water issues.
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