Utah Lawmakers Consider Cutting Off The Water Supply To NSA Data Center

Utah Lawmakers Consider Cutting Off The Water Supply To NSA Data Center

Utah lawmakers are weighing the option of cutting of the water supply to the National Security Agency’s (NSA) data center in Bluffdale.

Legislation to cut off the water supply was debated in the state’s Public Utilities and Technology Interim Committee on November 19; it will go before the entire Utah House of Representatives in 2015.

According to Wired.com, NSA brought the massive data center “online about a year ago.” It is a 1-million-square-foot building housing servers that hold data for NSA. “Millions of gallons of local water” are required to keep the servers cool. 

Utah state representative Marc Roberts (R-Dist. 67) introduced HB 161, the legislation fashioned to cut off the water supply. The bill requires municipalities to “refuse support to any federal agency which collects electronic data within [the] state.”

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that HB 161 “would grandfather in Bluffdale’s financial agreements with the [NSA] data center, but when those agreements expire, [HB 161] would prohibit further cooperation with the NSA.”

Representative Roger Barrus (R-Dist. 18) spoke in support of the legislation, saying: “I just don’t want to subsidize what [the NSA] is doing on the backs of our citizens.” 

Davis County Republican Party vice chair Joe Levi said: “This is not a bill just about a data center. This is a bill about civil rights.” 

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter: @AWRHawkins.  Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.

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