Data Centers in South Carolina: Lawsuits, Disputes, and Your Rights

Google chose Berkeley County, in the Lowcountry outside Charleston, for one of its major Southeastern campuses, and the company has expanded there over the years. Meta also operates in the state, and South Carolina competes actively for new projects with the incentive packages that have made the Southeast a data center magnet.

The region's geography shapes its issues. The Lowcountry sits over coastal aquifers that supply homes, farms, and industry alike, which is why the state's one documented data center dispute was about groundwater rather than noise or zoning.

South Carolina's record is thin compared with its neighbors, but the concerns follow a familiar shape:

• Groundwater use. Data centers can use enormous volumes of water for cooling. Google's 2019 request to withdraw groundwater in Berkeley County drew public contest precisely because coastal aquifers are a shared, limited resource.
• Growth and siting pressure. As the Southeast boom continues, new projects will test how counties zone and condition data center development near homes.
• The neighboring-state preview. Across the border in Georgia, a homeowner well lawsuit against Meta in Newton County, filed in late August 2026, and a pending rezoning suit in Coweta County show exactly how these issues escalate. See the Georgia water lawsuit for the closest parallel.

Our water issues page covers how cooling demand and construction affect wells and aquifers.

Honest answer first: no data center lawsuit is currently documented in South Carolina as of August 2026.

The state's one documented dispute came in 2019, when Google's request to withdraw groundwater for its Berkeley County operations drew a public contest over the region's aquifer. The matter was resolved, and it did not produce ongoing litigation. But it put South Carolina on the map early in the national story of data centers and water, and it established that the state's permitting process is where residents get their say on withdrawals.

The surrounding region shows where such fights can go: Georgia residents filed suit in 2026 to void a rezoning for a hyperscale campus over a groundwater recharge area, and homeowners near Meta's Georgia campus have pressed well complaints without yet filing suit. South Carolina neighbors facing similar harms would be using the same tools.

South Carolina residents have the standard toolkit if a data center causes harm:

• Nuisance and property claims. A failed or fouled well, constant noise, or dust can support private nuisance, negligence, and property damage claims seeking damages, typically taken on contingency.
• Permit participation and appeals. Groundwater withdrawal and discharge permits carry public comment and appeal rights, the venue where the 2019 Google contest played out.
• Zoning challenges. A rezoning or special exception for a new campus can be challenged on procedural and substantive grounds, on short deadlines after approval.
• Ordinance enforcement for noise and code issues, which builds the record for any later claim.

Statutes of limitations apply to damage claims, commonly two to six years depending on the claim type; a South Carolina attorney can confirm your deadlines. See our guide on water contamination claims if your well is the concern.

If you are on a well near a campus or a construction site, get a baseline water test now; the Georgia complaints next door show how construction can send sediment into wells, and a dated baseline is what makes harm provable. Keep a log of noise, dust, and traffic, and file written complaints with the county and state regulators when problems occur. Watch for withdrawal permit applications and rezoning notices, and comment on the record.

Then get a legal read on it. Our free intake form lets you tell us what is happening; where a participating attorney who handles these matters in South Carolina is available, we may share your information with them with your consent, but we cannot promise that anyone will contact you.