Locals send message to Meta, ‘get out of our town’

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) - Local activists organized a community block party protest in opposition to the Meta data center's construction Saturday morning to emphasize their message, 'we don't want you here.'

One organizer with the Sambrando Esparanza Coalition, Veronica Carbajal, told ABC-7 the community has been asking to organize a protest like this to make it clear they do not believe any promises made by Meta.

"We asked for a gathering where we could get to know each other and to demonstrate we do not want them here at all," Carbajal said. "We believe that all of the promises will fall short because there is no way to address the noise pollution, the air pollution, the heat pollution, and all of the other consequences that we're starting to see from the data center even as it's being constructed now."

Carbajal also talked about the lack of transparency around how much water the data center will use for it's 1,000 megawatts of energy but also the effects Chaparral, NM residents have already seen including losing water pressure and dust, noise and light pollution neighborhoods are having with the construction site.

In addition, Carbajal said there was no promise Meta makes she or her organization will believe and told ABC-7 as they continue to see more consequences of data centers on the communities around them it is all the more reason to be against them.

"What we know is because of our work throughout the state and the country that these data centers do not keep their promises, " Carbajal said. "They will continue to tell us they're going to do one thing and they actually do another, this data will operate 24 hours a day so we can expect increased heat, increased noise, the light pollution of course."

"Amazon just settled a lawsuit related to cancer related to its data center and every day we're finding out more and more about the health impacts of these facilities as well as the power plants and the transmission lines that they rely on." Carbajal said.

For these reasons, Carbajal said her and her organization's demands are clear, they want city officials to implement a moratorium like San Marcos and even a ban at the state level.

"Governor Abbott now saying that he wants to ban, or outlaw data centers in rural communities. Well, guess what? We don't want them in the cities either, and we don't want them in our military bases like Fort Bliss." Carbajal said.

To her, there's much better ways to invest money into local economic growth at the scale data centers are being funded.

"What would small businesses in El Paso do if they received $100 million in tax incentives spread out from the queue, they have what it would get more than 50 jobs guaranteed. That's what Meta's guarantee is there to provide us in the long run." Carbajal said.

"As we get more information, we're changing our demand. Meta keeps saying the same things over and over and over, nothing has changed," Carbajal said. "What has been happening in the last few weeks is we have become more and more connected to other communities that are fighting Meta."

ABC-7 reached out to Meta for comment but have not heard back but they have given a statement in the past.

The companies statement reads as follows:

“Meta's El Paso data center represents a significant long-term investment in this community — supporting thousands of construction and operational jobs, generating millions in local tax revenue, and supporting the digital infrastructure that El Paso businesses and families rely on every day. We’re glad to continue working with city leaders on the path forward and remain excited to be part of El Paso’s future.”

For more information about the Sambrando Esparanza Coalition's mission and stances, you can visit their website here.