Published 4:29 pm Tuesday, September 8, 2026 MOULTRIE — County commissioners extended the moratorium on data centers for another 180 days after a discussion Sept. 1, which was witnessed by more people than usual. Residents had shown up to the meeting after a post on Facebook stated that the meeting was about data centers. Actually, the topic of data centers was only one item discussed during the meeting. The residents in attendance asked questions and voiced concerns. During a pause in the commissioner’s discussion, a woman, introducing herself as “Megan,” asked if there was a time for the public to speak at the meeting. She was encouraged to speak by Commission Chairman Denver Braswell. She told them that she had been speaking to an environmental engineer and that Colquitt County is along the Gulf Trough, “a unique geological location.” “And it has high levels of arsenic in the lime beneath us. So, he stated that the rapid use of water that a data center calls for would create a ‘cone of depression’ and that ‘cone of depression’ is a massive underground funnel that would pull the arsenic up from the lime into the drinking water and into the well water,” she said and went on to expound on the dangers of cancer to humans, livestock and agriculture. She said she had seen and heard where counties had such strict ordinances that it was not as appetizing to set-up shop in them. Braswell agreed and told her that was similar to what County Administrator Chas Cannon had been…
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