Amazon will have to reapply for a wetland permit for its New Carlisle data center project, after it was learned that a contractor impacted a nearby wetland without permission.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management says contractor Walbridge impacted almost an acre of emergent wetland north of the project location without Amazon’s knowledge. It’s believed to have happened in late summer of 2024. Amazon notified IDEM in late May 2025. Amazon says it notified IDEM and the Army Corps of Engineers as soon as it became aware of the issue.
Maria Iturbide-Chang, the Hoosier Environmental Council’s water policy director, says community members have been voicing concern about unauthorized activity. “There is a lot of secrecy,” Iturbide-Chang said. “We don’t know how much water the project is withdrawing, and this is not just the case of Amazon but everywhere.”
IDEM officially notified Amazon in July that it was noncompliant and ordered it to stop working in state-regulated water. Amazon had been seeking permission to fill certain wetlands, impacting almost 10 acres, in exchange for purchasing stream and wetland “credits.” Now, it’ll have to submit a revised application, accounting for another 30-percent mitigation for the impacted wetland. Amazon withdrew its previous application this month.
Amazon says it’s enhanced protective measures at the site, and no work is currently taking place in the area’s wetlands, although work continues elsewhere.
In an emailed statement, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management said, “IDEM and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are working with the company to address the wetland impacts, and we anticipate a resubmitted application later this year that accounts for any additional wetland mitigation required.”
Going forward, Iturbide-Chang would like to see more compliance and community engagement. “In general, data centers should approach communities, should understand how the water works in every community,” she said. “They need to have water studies, hydrology studies.”
Iturbide-Chang said data center developments can reduce their water consumption with nature-based solutions, like harvesting rainwater. She doesn’t think Amazon is to blame for wells drying up in the area, but she says the concern shows that developments need to be able to adapt to a changing climate.
