What happened
WRAL investigated cooling systems planned or proposed for AI data centers in North Carolina. The report focuses on Chemours’ Opteon 2P50, a fluorinated fluid intended for two-phase immersion cooling. The chemical is awaiting federal approval and is not commercially available in the United States, according to WRAL.
WRAL reported on August 25, 2026, that the expansion of AI data centers is creating demand for specialized cooling chemicals as increasingly powerful computer chips generate more heat. One emerging approach is two-phase immersion cooling, in which servers are submerged in a nonconductive liquid. The liquid boils as equipment heats up and then condenses back into a reusable fluid. Chemours is developing Opteon 2P50 for this application. WRAL reported that the chemical is still awaiting federal approval and is not commercially available in the United States.
The report said Chemours describes 2P50 as suitable for sealed, closed-loop systems in which the fluid can be reclaimed, reprocessed and reused. Chemours told WRAL that the chemical should be evaluated according to its specific properties and exposure risks rather than treated as interchangeable with every other PFAS compound. A coalition of 17 environmental organizations, including the Natural Resources Defense Council and Earthjustice, is urging the EPA not to approve 2P50 and other new PFAS uses. The groups’ concerns include releases during manufacturing, use, maintenance and disposal, not only leaks from a running data center.
WRAL reported that Chemours said it had supplied the EPA with extensive technical and scientific information, but did not provide WRAL with requested studies or underlying data. Those requests included full-scale testing, potential emissions, atmospheric breakdown products and evidence supporting claims about energy and water savings. WRAL also reported that Chemours did not confirm an estimated annual evaporative loss rate of about 0.7 percent attributed to the company. The company has publicly said customer trials showed that 2P50 could reduce cooling energy use by more than 90 percent and nearly eliminate water use, but WRAL said it could not independently evaluate those claims because the supporting data were not provided.
The report also examined planned cooling systems from Amazon and Microsoft in North Carolina. Amazon told WRAL that its planned Richmond County facilities would not use liquid immersion cooling. It expects to use outside air for about 93 percent of the year and evaporative cooling on the hottest days; the company said the resulting water would be treated with sodium hypochlorite and pH-balancing chemicals. Microsoft told WRAL that it does not add PFAS chemicals to data-center cooling operations. For a Person County project, Microsoft has announced air-cooled chillers and a closed, recirculating water loop, while noting that some of its facilities use propylene glycol in closed-loop systems.
Read the primary source: wral.com ↗
Why it matters
The report highlights a central infrastructure trade-off in AI: cooling systems may reduce water and energy use while introducing environmental risks that are not yet fully documented. WRAL found that Chemours did not provide the underlying studies requested to independently assess its performance, emissions or potential losses.
The report matters because AI is directly increasing the heat-management demands of data-center hardware. As more computing power is concentrated in high-performance chips, operators are considering cooling methods beyond conventional air and water systems. That makes the chemical composition, containment and disposal of cooling fluids part of the environmental footprint of AI infrastructure, rather than a secondary facilities issue.
Less water and electricity use could provide real environmental benefits. WRAL reported that Chemours says immersion cooling can reduce both demands, while Amazon and Microsoft say their North Carolina designs can reduce water use without immersion systems. But the report also shows why efficiency claims cannot be assessed solely through a headline percentage. A cooling system’s total impact may depend on manufacturing, transport, maintenance, leaks, atmospheric breakdown, wastewater and eventual disposal. The source does not independently confirm the companies’ claimed savings or establish the full environmental profile of 2P50.
The public-health stakes are heightened by Chemours’ history in North Carolina. WRAL reported that Chemours and its predecessor, DuPont, released PFAS from Fayetteville Works into the Cape Fear River and air for decades, contaminating drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people. Chemours said it has invested more than $400 million to reduce PFAS emissions at Fayetteville Works and about $160 million in private-well testing. Chemours also told WRAL that it does not manufacture 2P50, its precursors or intermediates at that site and has no plans to do so. Those statements and investments were not independently verified in the source.
The regulatory question is whether existing oversight can identify risks before new cooling systems operate at scale. WRAL said the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality described data-center permits as subject to existing state and federal environmental laws, with requirements depending on each project’s design. The agency did not answer more specific questions about whether developers must disclose every cooling chemical, which contaminants must be tested in wastewater, or how regulators would detect fluorinated chemicals outside existing monitoring requirements. A North Carolina bill addressing data-center resource demands and requiring some facilities to use closed-loop cooling passed the House but stalled after returning to the Senate, according to WRAL.
What to watch next
Key next steps include the EPA’s review of Opteon 2P50, disclosure requirements for North Carolina data centers, and evidence from any full-scale deployments. Communities and regulators will need clearer information about chemicals used, wastewater testing, accidental releases and end-of-life disposal.
The first major checkpoint is the EPA’s review of Opteon 2P50. Approval would allow Chemours to pursue commercial use in the United States, but it would not by itself resolve questions about real-world losses, maintenance releases, atmospheric byproducts or disposal. The source does not provide the EPA’s timetable, the agency’s preliminary findings or the complete technical record submitted by Chemours.
Independent scrutiny should focus on the data Chemours did not provide to WRAL. Useful evidence would include full-scale test results, measured evaporative loss, emissions monitoring, breakdown-product analysis, spill-response performance and lifecycle information. The company’s claims of more than 90 percent lower cooling energy use and nearly eliminated water use remain company claims in this report, not independently confirmed findings.
North Carolina’s permitting and disclosure practices are another important area to monitor. Regulators, local officials and residents may seek a complete inventory of cooling chemicals, clear reporting of discharges and leaks, and testing methods capable of detecting fluorinated compounds that are not already covered by routine requirements. WRAL’s report leaves unresolved whether current rules provide that level of visibility before facilities begin operating.
Actual deployments will provide a practical test of the competing claims. Amazon’s planned Richmond County facilities and Microsoft’s projects in Person and Catawba counties could show how air cooling, evaporative cooling and closed recirculating loops perform under local conditions. Watch for publicly available measurements of water use, chemical discharges, accidental releases and maintenance practices. The source does not establish when these facilities will begin operations or whether their stated cooling plans will change.
