Environmental activist Erin Brockovich has launched a website that tracks data centers in the US.

Brockovich rose to national fame after taking part in a successful lawsuit against Pacific Gas and Electric Company for poisoning the groundwater in Hinkley, California. Brockovich’s role in the lawsuit was dramatized in the 2000 film Erin Brockovich, where she was played by Julia Roberts.

Brockovich’s website, titled “Brockovich AI Data Center Reporting,” invites people to self-report data centers that are operational or in the process of being built. This requires filling out a form that asks about the location, owner, and development status of a data center, as well as any issues or concerns related to the facility.

According to an essay posted on Brockovich’s Substack titled “If data centers are so great, why are they being built in secret?”, the map “isn’t intended to show every data center. It’s focused on locations where community members are actively voicing concerns.”

More than 2,700 data center locations have been “community reported” at the time of writing.

“I have spent my career listening to the people, especially those who were told to sit down and be quiet, who were told their backyard was safe, and that the water was safe to drink,” reads Brockovich’s Substack essay.

“I’ve shown up to community after community across the country for decades because the people who live in these towns invite me. I get hundreds of emails every single day, and what they say boils down to two little words: help me.

“So when I started hearing from people about AI data centers appearing in their communities with little to no notice, I paid attention.”

But Brockovich has stated that she is “not making a blanket argument against data centers or against the technology they support.

“Some communities have welcomed these facilities after genuine public engagement, honest disclosure of impacts, and real negotiation of community benefits. When that happens, that’s democracy working the way it should.

“What is not acceptable is the pattern our map documents: projects announced after permits are already secured, developers who don’t return calls, local officials who signed NDAs before their neighbors knew a project was being considered.”