The proposal by Nautilus Data Technologies to set up a water-cooled data storage facility at Alameda Point was soundly rejected by the Alameda City Council on June 18. The facility would have pumped over 14 million gallons of water a day through its facility to cool computer servers. The company said water cooling is better for the environment than existing air conditioning technology. But by the time the environmental community was finished weighing in, it was clear that the Nautilus once-through cooling system would have replaced one problem by creating a new one.
The screen on the intake pipe underneath Pier 2 sounded good, until you consider that all the water coming out the other end in the Bay would have been filtered water that would have upset the natural ecological balance. Marine life would have been pasted against the intake screen and periodically scraped off. Tiny organisms would have made it through the screen and potentially been killed by the heat. The heated water at the point of discharge was another big concern, since warming water is one of the conditions in which toxic algae blooms occur.
Below are excerpts from letters sent by environmental groups to the city council and excerpts of public comments at the meeting. Thank you to all who spoke up for the natural world and our fragile Bay ecosystem. Continue reading “Environmentalists sink Nautilus data center”
Alameda Point Environmental Report 