By Amy Clark
Guest Columnist
Exploding electricity demand for A.I. data centers is now pushing the companies that build them to set up off-grid power plants at a pace that outstrips important legally-required environmental oversight. Why is that a problem? It comes with big amounts of air pollution that endangers the health of Americans living near A.I. data centers.
On July 14, Reuters published an online expose by researchers Disha Raychaudhuri and Valerie Volcovici titled, “Pollution from Musk’s Un-permitted xAI Power Project Hits Hardest in Black Communities.” As you read what has happened in a rural community on the border of Mississippi and Tennessee, remember, it could happen here.
According to Raychaudhuri and Volcovici, “Trillionaire Elon Musk’s xAI has installed 57 off-grid turbines in Southaven, Miss., just across the state line from its Colossus 2 data center in Memphis, a facility supporting the Grok chatbot and other AI systems. In April 2026, the NAACP and the Southern Environmental Law Center sued xAI to halt their operations, arguing the turbines produce emissions subject to the federal Clean Air Act and shouldn’t be operated without permits. Patrick Anderson, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center claimed, ‘This is an absolutely huge Clean Air Act violation that threatens public health.’”
Why didn’t Musk apply for the required permits? Securing a Clean Air Act permit would have required xAI’s project managers to consider the input of nearby residents, as well as health experts before they began. That takes time. See if you agree with me. Here’s the real reason.
Raychaudhuri and Volcovici discovered, “The U.S. Justice Department weighed in on the lawsuit in a June 15 filing, saying that restricting the turbines could threaten national security interests because xAI’s systems support U.S. military operations, including operations involving Iran.”
I believe as long as the Secretary of Defense and President Trump believe A.I. is necessary for our nation’s military, locations near minority groups in America will be viewed as potentially favorable places to impose unwanted data centers.
“The outcome of the lawsuit filed by civil rights groups will define how environmental laws apply to the fast-growing AI sector, where companies are scrambling to bring power supplies online to support energy-intensive computing,” Raychaudhuri and Volcovici believe.
Mary Rock, a senior attorney for Earthjustice, which is representing the NAACP and SELC, warned, “The Trump administration wants to create ‘sacrifice zones’ and tell communities they have to breathe illegal air pollution.”
What kind of air pollution are they talking about? Here are the facts: Thirty natural gas turbines emit 2,500 short tons of nitrogen oxide, 4,000 short tons of carbon monoxide, and 22 short tons of formaldehyde annually, assuming they operate continuously at 80% of capacity. According to the EPA, gas turbines are typically operated at loads of 80% or more to achieve efficiency. Nitrogen oxides cause respiratory inflammation, according to the American Lung Association. Carbon monoxide deprives the body of oxygen, and formaldehyde is a carcinogen.
“The xAI site’s emissions far exceed a Clean Air Act threshold that requires permitting for facilities capable of more than 100 short tons annually of pollutants such as nitrogen oxide,” Raychaudhuri and Volcovici reveal.
“The nitrogen oxide emissions of half the plant’s turbines would put the facility on par with the top 25 U.S. gas plants for nitrogen oxide emissions,” Nicholas Mailloux, University of Wisconsin researcher, reported, citing EPA data for actual emissions.
When Raychaudhuri and Volcovici spoke with residents of the Colonial Hills neighborhood of Southaven, they learned the turbines serving Colossus 2 can be heard around the clock, often firing off noisy bursts that residents compare to jet engines. Ervin Laws, Colonial Hills resident in his 20s, told them,“The noise wakes me up at night but I can’t do anything about it, because Musk’s got more money than me.”
Raychaudhuri and Volcovici state, “Across the state line in Tennessee, where residents have no say in Mississippi’s permitting process, about 94% of residents within five miles of the facility are Black, compared to 52% in surrounding Shelby County. Shelby County and portions of DeSoto County failed to meet federal ozone standards and remain subject to EPA-approved plans to ensure they do not slip back into violation. Nitrogen oxide is a key precursor to ozone formation, which the EPA says can harm respiratory health.”
Sarah Gladney, 72, watched the rapid expansion of xAI’s Memphis-area presence from her home in the historically-Black neighborhood of Boxtown, a few miles from where the company built its Colossus 1 data center in 2024. “Now they have their foot in the door in Memphis. It’s going to be a continuous spread of xAI into other communities,” she said. “It’s all about the money, not about the health of the people that live in or near these communities.”
I believe we need to heed the warning of Americans who have experienced the presence of an A.I. data center near where they live. We can learn from it when we strive to maintain the good health of residents of our own community.
