“I got a lot of relatives, my mother and father, buried up there at my church with breathing problems, cancer, lung problems,” says Willie Joseph Stafford, an 80-year-old lifelong Boxtown resident. “Nobody seems to care about what’s causing it and what we can do to solve it. Instead of them trying to do that, they come out here and put more pollution on us.”
For Musk, the Electrolux plant was simply a good deal. To the residents of Boxtown, it was another threat upon their lungs. Gas turbines release smog-forming pollution and hazardous chemicals like formaldehyde—which are tied to increases in asthma, respiratory diseases, heart problems, and certain cancers. People who already have respiratory issues are at greater health risk to any increase in pollution.
Dalgo, who works at several clinics within 15 miles of the data center, says he sees many patients with breathing issues. “I’m pretty surprised at how many people come in with respiratory problems, or need an inhaler to get around day-to-day without having wheezing symptoms,” he says. “I think their respiratory issues are being exacerbated because they’re experiencing high levels of nitrogen oxides … I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the respiratory issues that I’ve seen are directly related to the tonnes of nitrogen oxides that are being put in the air by these turbines.”