The NAACP and an environmental group said on Tuesday that they intended, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company Xai Air pollution that is generated by a supercomputer Establishment near mostly black communities in Memphis.
The XAI data center began last year, some of which were operated by pollution gas turbines without first applying for approval. Officials told them an exception to operate up to 364 days without permission, but Patrick Anderson, lawyer of the Southern Environmental Law Center, said at a press conference that there was no such exemption for turbines – and that there were still more than 364 days.
In a letter, a 60-day termination of the intention of suing was sent a prerequisite for submitting a lawsuit according to the law on Clean Air Act to Xai. The SELC represents the NAACP in its possible legal challenge against Xai and its application for approval, which is now taken into account by the Shelby County Ministry of Health.
The XAI company answers
The company said on Tuesday that it is seriously committed to the community and the environment.
“The temporary units for electricity generation are in accordance with all applicable laws,” says an XAI declaration.
Musk’s XAI said that the turbines will be equipped with technology to reduce emissions – and that it is already increasing the city’s economy by investing billions from dollars in the supercomputer, making millions of local taxes and hundreds of jobs. The company also spends 35 million US dollars for the construction of a electricity clamp and 80 million US dollars for the construction of a water recycling system for the support of the support of memphis, light, gas and water, the local supply company.
The Chamber of Commerce in Memphis made a surprising announcement in June 2024 that Xai wanted to build a supercomputer in the city. The data center quickly set up a shop in an industrial park South Memphis near Fabriken and a gas -powered gas -powered plant operated by Tennessee Valley Authority.
What opponents say
Opponents say that the supercomputing center emphasizes the power grid. They claim that the turbines emit smog and carbon dioxide, pollutants that cause lung irritation such as nitrogen oxides and carcinogen formaldehyde.
The SELC said that the use of the turbines violates the Clean Air Act and that the residents who live near the XAI facility are already exposed to four times the national average. The group has also sent a petition to the environmental protection authority.
Critics say that Xai installed the turbines without supervision or notification to the community. The company is calling for 15 turbines on site, but the SELC announced that a company commissioned to fly through the facility and occasionally found up to 35 turbines.
The approval itself says that emissions from the location “will be a source of space for dangerous air pollutants”. Approval would enable the Ministry of Health to receive 1,700 public comments for approval in order to monitor the air quality near the facility.
A controversial public meeting
Opponents of the facility say that the city leaders were not transparent with the community in terms of their handling of Xai and that the health of the residents sacrifice the health of the residents in return for financial advantages.
At a parish meeting that was organized by the County Health Department in April, many of the people linguizing in the opposition quoted the additional burden of pollution in a city that has already received an “F” grade for ozone pollution from the American Lung Association.
In a statement that Xais Brent Mayo read at the meeting, the company said “to strengthen the structure of the community”, and estimated that the tax revenue from the data center is expected to exceed 100 million US dollars up to the next year.
“These tax revenue will support important programs such as public security, health and human services, education, firefighters, police, parks and much more,” the explanation says.
The company apparently wants to expand: The Chamber of Commerce said in March that Xai had not bought a 1 million square meter property at a second location.
The mayor of Memphis weighs
Mayor Paul Young said on Friday in his weekly newsletter that a regulation must now oblige 25% of Xai’s city tax income within 5 miles from the facility directly in districts in a quarter.
Young also said that no tax incentives or public dollars are bound to the project.
“Let us be clear, this is not a debate between the environment and the economy,” said Young. “It’s about putting people in front of politics. It is about building something better for communities that have been waiting for real investments for far too long.”
Boxtown strikes back
A nearby neighborhood, which deals with decades of industrial pollution, is Boxtown, a close -meshed community that was founded by liberated slaves in the 1860s. It was called Boxtown after the residents used material that were unloaded by Railroad Boxcars to attach their houses. The area has houses, forest areas and wetlands, and its residents are mainly residents of the working class.
Boxtown won a victory In 2021 against two companies that tried to build an oil pipeline through the area. Valero and Plains All American Pipeline have canceled the project after protests by residents and activists under the direction of state MP Justin J. Pearson, who gave it a possible danger for the community, and a groundwater manager who delivers clean drinking water.
Pearson, who represents nearby districts, said: “Clean Air is a human right” when he asked the people in Memphis to unite against Xai.
“There is no person, no matter how wealthy or powerful, who can deny the fact that everyone has the right to breathe clean air,” said Pearson, who compared the fight against Xai to David and Goliath.
“We are okay to be David because we know how the story ends,” he said.
