The NAACP alleges that data centers operated by Elon Musk’s xAI in Memphis are violating the Clean Air Act in a lawsuit filed against the company on Tuesday.
CNBC reports that the suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi and claims that xAI installed 27 gas turbines “without an air permit or regard for the health and safety of people living nearby.” The NAACP is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as for the companies to “cease operating the Colossus Gas Plant unless and until they obtain the required permits; to apply the necessary pollution controls; and to pay appropriate civil penalties for each day of violation.”
“Our right to clean air is not up for negotiation, especially when companies prove expediency, not people, is their priority,” Abre’ Conner, NAACP Director of Environmental and Climate Justice, said in an emailed statement to CNBC.
xAI has skirted around obtaining permits for the gas turbines by claiming they’re only for temporary use. The company has elected to use the turbines as the city’s power grid doesn’t provide enough energy to power the data center.
The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) and EarthJustice are representing the NAACP in its case against xAI. The SELC’s website states that xAI has a history of using unpermitted gas turbines to power its data centers, which are often located in low-income, predominantly Black neighborhoods.
The data center at the heart of the NAACP’s lawsuit is located only a few miles away from Boxtown, a city whose population is 90% Black and has a median income of $36,000, according to Census data. Shelby County already led Tennessee in asthma hospitalizations, and the fumes emitted by the data center have only exacerbated the issue. Politico reported that several Boxtown residents spoke out against the data center at a public hearing last year.
“I can’t breathe at home, it smells like gas outside,” Boxtown resident Alexis Humphreys said through tears, holding up her asthma inhaler during the hearing. “How come I can’t breathe at home, and y’all get to breathe at home?”
AI data centers have become an increasingly contentious topic in recent years, as it’s hard to see them as anything other than a net negative. While they may create jobs during construction, data centers require very few people to maintain them once operational. The technology they power can also displace people from their jobs. Not to mention the aforementioned environmental impact data centers have on the neighborhoods where they’re located.
As folks have either seen or heard about the impact of data centers, there has been significant pushback from residents whenever a city council or state legislature considers approving a data center. After widespread public outcry, the city council of Chandler, Arizona, unanimously rejected a proposal to build a data center in the city.
Just this week, folks in the small town of Festus, Missouri, voted out four city council members who were up for reelection because they approved the building of an AI data center. Be it lawsuits or electoral consequences, it’s clear that people aren’t willing to sacrifice their health or economic well-being so AI companies can increase shareholder value.
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