Log In


Reset Password
News Education Local News Nation & World New Mexico

Utah lawmaker questions NSA water service

A Utah lawmaker is questioning whether city water should be shut off to a massive National Security Agency data-storage facility outside Salt Lake City in Bluffdale, Utah.

SALT LAKE CITY – A Utah lawmaker concerned about government spying on its citizens is questioning whether city water service should be cut off to a massive National Security Agency data storage facility outside Salt Lake City.

Republican Rep. Marc Roberts, of Santaquin, said there are serious questions about privacy and surveillance surrounding the center, and several Utah residents who spoke at a legislative committee hearing Wednesday agreed.

During the last legislative session, lawmakers opted to hold off on Roberts’ bill to shut off the facility’s water and decided to study it during the interim.

“This is not a bill just about a data center. This is a bill about civil rights,” web developer Joe Levi said. “This is a bill that needs to be taken up and taken seriously.”

The NSA’s largest data-storage center in the U.S. was built in Utah over 37 other locations because of open land and cheap electricity.

The center sits on a National Guard base about 25 miles south of Salt Lake City in the town of Bluffdale.

NSA officials said the center is key to protecting national security networks and allowing U.S. authorities to watch for cyber threats. Beyond that, the agency has offered few details.

The center attracted much discussion and concern after revelations last year that the NSA has been collecting millions of U.S. phone records and digital communications stored by major Internet providers.

Cybersecurity experts say the nondescript Utah facility is a giant storehouse for phone calls, emails and online records that have been secretly collected.

Outside the computer storehouses are large coolers that keep the machines from overheating. The coolers use large amounts of water, which the nearby city of Bluffdale sells to the center at a discounted rate.



Reader Comments