On Tuesday, April 28, I attended a community meeting in Wharton County alongside my colleague Dr. Liza Powers, a Data Scientist with the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice. The meeting was hosted by David Rodriguez, a candidate for the Wharton County Junior College (WCJC) Board, and focused on a large data center currently under construction in the region.
Wharton County is a rural area whose economy has long depended on agriculture, cattle ranching, and close knit community relationships. For me, this discussion was not abstract or distant—it was personal. I was born and raised in Wharton County, in the small community of Spanish Camp. My presence at this meeting reflected not only my professional role as a Program Coordinator with the Bullard Center, but also my deep sense of accountability to the place and people that shaped me.
Through my work at the Bullard Center, I have come to understand my own upbringing through an environmental justice lens. Many inequities that once felt “normal” now stand out as clear examples of disproportionate harm. These include exposure to industrial pollution and hazardous infrastructure near schools and residential neighborhoods. One of the most striking examples is the former El Campo Middle School (ECMS). An alarming number of educators from that school later developed cancer, including my mother.
At the time, ECMS was overcrowded and surrounded by an aluminum plant, active rail lines, and multiple gravel plants. The school itself was the former all-Black school prior to integration, and it was flooded regularly even with moderate rainfall. When viewed through an environmental justice framework, these conditions reflect long standing patterns of racialized land use, inadequate planning, and institutional neglect—patterns that many rural and historically marginalized communities continue to face today.
During the meeting, community members learned that land designation and approvals for the new data center had occurred before there was broad public awareness or meaningful engagement. The facility, assigned to Amazon Web Services (AWS), is projected to become the largest data center campus in Texas. Current plans indicate the development will include ten warehouse style buildings, each approximately 10,000 square feet, spanning roughly 2,700 acres.
Construction is expected to unfold in five phases over four years and is projected to bring thousands of workers into a county with a daily population of approximately 642. An influx of this scale raises serious concerns about water usage, energy demand, infrastructure capacity, housing availability, public health, and long term environmental impacts—especially in a rural county with limited regulatory oversight and emergency response resources.
Residents in nearby Boling, Texas, are already experiencing early impacts. Community members report constant generator noise, high intensity industrial lighting throughout the night, and persistent construction activity, including the development of an access road. These disruptions offer a preview of the quality of life challenges that may worsen as the project progresses.