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Erin Brockovich made a map to track data centers around the country

Recorded: May 27, 2026, 2 a.m.

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Erin Brockovich made a map to track data centers around the country | Nieman Journalism Lab

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May 26, 2026, 3:34 p.m.

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Erin Brockovich made a map to track data centers around the countryLINK: www.brockovichdatacenter.com  ➚   |   Posted by: Neel Dhanesha   |   May 26, 2026Erin Brockovich, the environmental activist whose name and work you may recognize from the Oscar-winning movie Erin Brockovich, has created a tool to map data centers across the country, along with a form for people to report data centers and their impacts in their community.
“The RACE to build AI infrastructures is unfolding town by town across America. In some places, data centers are welcomed,” Brockovich writes on the site (emphasis hers). “In others, they are delayed, contested or abandoned altogether. This MAP captures the real-world footprint of that race — revealing patterns of growth, conflict and uncertainty.”
As data center demand continues to grow rapidly, so are concerns about their impacts; in March, Andrew and I wrote about how investigating data centers is quickly becoming its own beat. As of publication, Brockovich’s map — similar to a map published by Business Insider, whom Andrew and I talked to for our story — shows the locations of 33 operational data centers, with 44 under construction and 27 proposed. There are also 2,716 community reports so far, and undoubtedly more will follow.

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MLA
Dhanesha, Neel. "Erin Brockovich made a map to track data centers around the country." Nieman Journalism Lab. Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, 26 May. 2026. Web. 26 May. 2026.
APA
Dhanesha, N. (2026, May. 26). Erin Brockovich made a map to track data centers around the country. Nieman Journalism Lab. Retrieved May 26, 2026, from https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/05/erin-brockovich-made-a-map-to-track-data-centers-around-the-country/
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Dhanesha, Neel. "Erin Brockovich made a map to track data centers around the country." Nieman Journalism Lab. Last modified May 26, 2026. Accessed May 26, 2026. https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/05/erin-brockovich-made-a-map-to-track-data-centers-around-the-country/.
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{{cite web
    | url = https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/05/erin-brockovich-made-a-map-to-track-data-centers-around-the-country/
    | title = Erin Brockovich made a map to track data centers around the country
    | last = Dhanesha
    | first = Neel
    | work = [[Nieman Journalism Lab]]
    | date = 26 May 2026
    | accessdate = 26 May 2026
    | ref = {{harvid|Dhanesha|2026}}
}}

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Erin Brockovich has developed a tool designed to map data centers across the United States and provide a mechanism for the public to report data centers and their effects within their communities. This initiative aims to capture the real-world footprint of the ongoing race to build artificial intelligence infrastructures, documenting patterns of growth, conflict, and uncertainty associated with the proliferation of data centers. As noted by Dhanesha, Neel, the map serves as a comprehensive record of the development landscape concerning these facilities.

The effort is situated against the backdrop of rapidly growing data center demand, which has intensified concerns regarding their various impacts. The map currently showcases the locations of 33 operational data centers, alongside statistics detailing 44 data centers currently under construction and 27 proposed projects. Furthermore, the tracking mechanism has gathered 2,716 community reports pertaining to data centers to date, with the expectation of further input. This data collection demonstrates an effort to investigate the evolving landscape of data infrastructure beyond pure commercial metrics, focusing instead on localized, real-world consequences.