The University of Minnesota has long positioned itself as a global leader in environmental sustainability. Yet its recent $40 million land sale to Meta Platforms has sparked backlash from students and raised questions about the University’s sustainability practices. 

Ranked in the top 10% worldwide and fifth in the U.S. in the 2025 Times Higher Ed Sustainability Impact rankings, the University has adopted ambitious goals, from cutting emissions by 60% to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050.

Despite these ambitions, the Board of Regents approved the sale of 280 acres of the University of Minnesota Outreach Research and Education Park to Meta Platforms. This deal, valued at nearly $40 million, will allow the tech giant to construct an AI-optimized data center at the University’s campus, raising doubts about the University’s commitment to its sustainability promises.

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is an American technology company that connects 3.89 billion monthly active users around the world through apps like Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads. Owning and operating 24 data center campuses globally that cover 53 million square feet, Meta has invested nearly $55 billion in projects around the world. 

Critics warn that the facility’s vast energy and water use could greatly undermine environmental progress and pose problems for nearby communities. 

Student and Advocacy Perspectives

For some students, the sale represents a disconnect between University values and actions.

Fourth-year Olivia Kronzer, studying environmental science, said the sale was really disappointing. 

“There’s so much evidence coming out about how establishing a data center and their huge use of water impacts surrounding communities,” Kronzer said.

Kronzer said the decision sends a clear message to students who believe in the University’s sustainability goals.

“It makes me feel that they are all talk and no action,” Kronzer said. “If they are going to have these sustainability initiatives but make deals like this, it feels like it’s just for show, and they’re more focused on profit than actual impact.”

Evan Mulholland, Healthy Communities program director at the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, said these concerns point to a broader issue of transparency between institutions and the public. 

“Governments, companies, and academia have an informational barrier they often use,” Mulholland said. “They do not put information in a public space in a way that people can understand it.”

Mulholland said many institutions often publish important data in a format that is very difficult to understand without a professional background. 

“In my previous position, when I worked at the Attorney General’s in New Hampshire, we had the force of the state behind us, so we could force companies to give us information,” Mulholland said. “But the average person doesn’t have that kind of power.” 

Mulholland said it is important to hold institutions in power accountable, urge people to talk to policymakers and be an active citizen to make sure those in power are checked. 

A Contaminated Past

The sale also brings attention to the land, a property with a complicated environmental past. 

UMore Park, a 4,722-acre property owned by the University of Minnesota, hosts the Rosemount Research and Outreach Center, a former federal Superfund site due to hazardous waste contamination. 

UMore’s past dates back to the 1940s when it housed the Gopher Ordnance Works, a government munitions plant producing smokeless gunpowder during World War II. Decades later, investigators found pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls, lead, and copper in the soil and volatile organic compounds in the groundwater. 

Cleanup efforts began in the 1980s under the supervision of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency. 

Cleanup costs have been primarily completed by the University under the oversight of MPCA Superfund staff and other developers, according to an MPCA email to the Minnesota Daily. The agency did not conduct enforcement or participate in any cost sharing, according to the email.

The University Rosemount Research Center, or RROC, site was stated to be removed from the Minnesota Superfund list in September 2000 and from the EPA’s Superfund list in February 2001, according to an MPCA email to the Daily. This was after cleanup goals were achieved.

The University was fined $18,000 for hazardous waste violations in 2005 and $60,000 for asbestos violations in 2009, according to public records. 

The University filed a 2017 lawsuit against the federal government, seeking reimbursement for environmental cleanup costs at UMore Park. They reached a $13 million settlement from DuPont and the federal government to support pollution cleanup at the site. 

EPA spokesperson David Shark said while EPA acts in a supporting role, it conducts five-year reviews to ensure that cleanup measures continue to protect human health and the environment. The 2022 five-year review at the University found that the remedy is effective, groundwater meets drinking standards and highly contaminated soils were excavated. 

The City of Rosemount said it commends the University’s commitments to cleanup efforts.

“We’ve seen the University of Minnesota’s consistent commitment to the responsible stewardship of the UMore property, including the former Gopher Munitions Plant site,” a City of Rosemount spokesperson said in an email statement to The Minnesota Daily. “We are pleased that environmental remediation efforts continue to progress successfully, ensuring the land is safe and suitable for future use.” 

Accountability and Compliance

Although cleanup is largely complete, the remnants of the past impact more than just the University. 

“My concept of environmental compliance is that there’s not a lot of non-compliance out there,” Mulholland said. “There are a lot of instances where people are not doing what they are supposed to be doing according to their permit or regulations.” 

Mulholland added that regulated companies often spend less time and money to make sure their environmental impact is up to code. He said some institutions will make calculated decisions on purpose to see how long they can operate without getting caught.

“It is important for companies and others who have contaminated land to know there’s someone paying attention and inspecting and holding them in line,” Mulholland said.

Mulholland said it is important that institutions research the type of land they are using before they take ownership of it. 

“Part of becoming a landowner is doing your due diligence before you become the landowner, and understanding what your responsibility is for the contamination on the property,” Mulholland said.

Mulholland said there is a need for stronger policies. He added that while Minnesota has made significant progress in addressing environmental gaps, current regulations still fail to cover all forms of pollution.

“The rules are inadequate. I know more about air pollution than any other medium,” Mulholland said. “The standards for most sources like air pollution do not take into account public health, so a lot of it is focused on what’s financially achievable, not what is most protective.”

Rosemount Research Center Now

Despite the legacy of the Rosemount Research and Outreach Center, the RROC Director of Operations, Blake Webster, said there are differing opinions on the site. He added that it is important not to let the past shadow the success the site has now achieved.

“It’s complicated history and both opinions can exist, you can appreciate the sacrifices of the Dakota county people that were relocated and the role that site played in helping World War II, and you can be frustrated by the modern implications of that,” Webster said.

Webster said, despite differing opinions on the formal superfund site, the center has become a hub for agricultural research and innovation.

“Since as long as the University has been in ownership of the land, it has been hugely productive and has hosted the biggest names globally and made big impacts in the state of agriculture,” Webster said.

From plant breeders and agronomy to initiatives like Forever Green, Webster added that the RROC performs groundbreaking research in a variety of different disciplines.

“My team and I manage about 3,100 acres of farmable land at UMore Park,” Green said. “That translates to about 600 acres of active sponsored research.”

The Future of Sustainability 

With the construction of the data center beginning at UMore Park, the remnants of the past still linger. By 2028, it is projected that the electricity consumption of data centers could reach up to 12%, causing an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. This projection presents a stark contradiction to UMN’s emissions-reduction goals, a concern that students like Olivia Kronzer hope to highlight.

“I think students can play a huge role,” Kronzer said. “We are the people paying tuition, so we have the right to know where our money is going.” 

Kronzer said there is a need for the University to be transparent about its partnerships and ensure its actions align with its stated sustainability goals. She added she was surprised the data center project had not been discussed in her environmental conservation class, further adding to the lack of transparency she felt. 

“I’m really surprised this wasn’t brought up in a class or anything, especially because I’m taking sustainability development classes,” Kronzer said.

Beyond transparency among large institutions, environmental advocates urge the need for broader public engagement on these issues. 

“The biggest thing we could do as a society is use the precautionary principle,” said Mulholland. “In America, we just assume things are safe until proven otherwise, so we need to make sure when we introduce new chemicals, we are being cautious.”

Mulholland said he stresses the importance of collective responsibility for the environment.

“It’s important to ask ourselves, is it our health and the health of our environment that we need or is it money?” Mulholland said.