Environmental risk can become deal risk fast.

That was a key takeaway from two presentations at this week’s Ohio Manufacturers’ Association Environment Committee meeting, where members heard how data center developers are addressing infrastructure and community concerns and how environmental due diligence can uncover liabilities before they become costly surprises.

Jeremy Schans and Eric Heis of Bitdeer walked members through the company’s Ohio data center operations and plans, including how it is addressing concerns around electricity use, water, noise and community impact. Bitdeer emphasized that it funds the infrastructure needed to serve its facilities and uses closed-loop cooling designed to limit water use.

The discussion gave members a firsthand look at how a major new energy user is addressing the infrastructure, environmental and community questions that increasingly follow data center development.

Lizzette Barrow and Duane Steelman of Terracon then focused on environmental due diligence and the tools companies can use to identify risk before purchasing, expanding or selling a facility. Their presentation covered Phase I and Phase II assessments, compliance reviews, audits and property condition assessments.

Finding environmental liabilities before a deal or expansion moves too far can help avoid delays, unexpected costs and tougher decisions later. 8/20/2026