This story is from Floodlight and is published in collaboration with WIRED. Republished by the Texas Tribune.
Omaira Garcia didn’t realize life on her small ranch in Abilene, Texas, was about to change forever until clouds of dust — kicked up by a mysterious project next door — began to engulf her home.
The Air Force veteran said she found out about OpenAI’s plans to build its flagship Stargate data center directly beside her property only after construction began in the summer of 2024. Today, the site’s natural-gas-powered electrical plant sits roughly 500 yards from her house, the exhaust stacks clearly visible from her kitchen window.
“We weren’t given any time to understand what this impact was going to be on us,” the mother of two said through tears. “We’re trapped here.”
OpenAI did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
