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ARTICLE · 14 JULY 2026

Data Centers In Court: The Emerging Wave Of Nuisance, Environmental, And Land-Use Litigation

WilmerHale
WilmerHale
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As data centers proliferate across the United States, neighboring residents are increasingly filing lawsuits alleging noise pollution, environmental violations, and improper land-use approvals. This emerging wave of litigation—spanning common-law nuisance claims, Clean Air Act violations, and zoning challenges—represents a novel legal frontier where established tort doctrines meet modern infrastructure demands, raising critical questions about how courts will balance technological advancement ag

United StatesLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Siddharth V. Velamoor
Siddharth V. Velamoor
Joshua A. Geltzer
Joshua A. Geltzer
Tommy Beaudreau
Tommy Beaudreau
Kelly P. Dunbar
Kelly P. Dunbar
Ariel Soiffer
Ariel Soiffer
Ari Holtzblatt
Ari Holtzblatt
Barak Kamelgard
Barak Kamelgard
Connor Brashear
Connor Brashear
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Over the past year, several lawsuits have been filed against regulators as well as against data center developers and operators by neighboring residents and other plaintiffs. These lawsuits, including a June 2026 lawsuit against the operators of a data center in Mississippi, bring state common-law claims, like nuisance and negligence, as well as claims under environmental statutes.1 This alert surveys that emerging landscape of litigation: the causes of action being pleaded, the remedies sought, the forums in which the suits are unfolding and their status. The cases discussed below are illustrative rather than exhaustive, and most remain at early stages. Together, however, they offer a crystallizing preview of the litigation risks that accompany one of the largest infrastructure build-outs in modern history.2

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