A dangerous, metal-resistant bacteria traced to Meta's data center construction site contaminated Cheyenne's wastewater recycling system earlier this year. The city had to drain and disinfect the entire reuse system, a process that took two months. During that time, Cheyenne diverted potable drinking water to keep parks and fields watered, no small burden for a city that already imports half its supply from 115 miles away on the other side of the Continental Divide.

Cheyenne cited the contamination as "significant noncompliance" and fined Meta $10,000. Now Meta, one of the world's most valuable companies, is appealing to get that money back. It is also fighting any obligation to pay cleanup costs from what the city described as "significant remediation efforts."

Meta says it is "committed to being a good neighbor." But challenging a $10,000 fine while a city cleans up from your construction site is not being a good neighbor. It is using corporate legal resources to avoid accountability that any other industrial user in Cheyenne would face.

The Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities should reject the appeal in full, uphold the citation, and pursue complete cost recovery. Not one dollar of ratepayer money should cover remediation costs tied to Meta's operations. And as Cheyenne weighs how many more data centers to welcome, this incident deserves to be part of that conversation, including a serious reconsideration of the moratorium the council already voted down.

Sign this petition to demand the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities rejects Meta's appeal and recovers the full cost of the cleanup.