LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Pulp and paper mills are nasty things; their effluent is not something you’d want to serve at tea. Advanced waste water treatment in the pulp and paper industry is focused mainly on additional biological membrane reactors, ozone treatment and membrane filtration techniques such as micro, ultra- or nanofiltration and reverse osmosis.
Filtration Assisted Crystallization Technology. Modern technology makes the things barely tolerable as neighbors.
In the early days, the vast majority of effluent was released into rivers, covering riverbeds with mats of wood waste for miles. I could go on.
140 years ago, in 1886, there were those who thought that a paper mill would be a fine thing for SM. “CITIZEN” (the author of the San Marcos Free Press submission) emphasized the supposed economic benefits with not one word about possible environmental effects.
How could he? He confessed his utter ignorance of the paper business.
Where would that effluent have gone? Down the SM River. Spreading joy to Martindale and points south.
What little I’ve read about our proposed data center seems to show various parallels with the paper mill.
Proponents emphasize the supposed economic benefits. And downplay potential environmental effects.
I have read that data centers pose significant environmental challenges, primarily through massive energy consumption, high water usage for cooling, and increased pollution. They strain local power grids — that often rely on fossil fuels — and drive up utility rates for residents.
Some of that may be true; caution is required in approving such a project.
In 1905, George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Cheers, Grady Early San Marcos
San Marcos (TX) Free Press, Thu 21 Jan 1886 p. 3
