Boardman, Oregon
Oregon town whose Amazon campus became the first US data-centre nitrate-pollution settlement.
Last refreshed: 25 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Did Amazon's $20.5m Oregon pollution settlement set the template for other data-centre fights?
Timeline for Boardman, Oregon
Mentioned in: Amazon nuisance suit clears first test
Data Centres: Boom and BacklashMentioned in: Lake Anna hearing, no PFAS test
Data Centres: Boom and BacklashMentioned in: Google prices its water ahead of rules
Data Centres: Boom and BacklashMentioned in: Amazon pays $20.5m Boardman nitrate deal
Data Centres: Boom and BacklashBackground
Amazon Data Services agreed in March 2026 to pay $20.5 million to settle Pearson v. Port of Morrow, a class action over nitrate contamination of groundwater near its Boardman data-centre campus, the first major US data-centre pollution settlement. The case was cited as historical precedent in July 2026 reporting on parallel water and nuisance disputes at Amazon's Louisa County, Virginia site.
Boardman is a small town in Morrow County in north-eastern Oregon, on the Columbia River, chosen by Amazon and other hyperscalers for cheap hydroelectric power and available land. The lawsuit, filed in February 2024 by residents unable to drink their nitrate-contaminated well water, named Amazon as one of 17 defendants and alleged that water evaporating from the data centres' cooling systems concentrated nitrates already present from decades of agricultural fertiliser, manure and wastewater run-off.
The settlement established a template that other communities near hyperscale data-centre campuses now invoke when pressing for water-quality safeguards, and it has become a recurring reference point in disputes over Amazon's newer sites elsewhere in the country.