Despite “pretty positive” signals from SpaceX, city leaders do not know if a promised wastewater treatment facility will be built. Some Memphis City Council members felt misled about who would operate it.
Elon Musk’s company promised to build a facility to take city wastewater to cool its mighty compute power at Colossus in South Memphis. The company later said the facility was no longer a priority.
Memphis Light, Gas & Water (MLGW) CEO and president Doug McGowen told council members right after that statement that he and others were in talks with the company and they still seemed committed to the project.
Late last month, Protect Our Aquifer reported that xAI bought more than 25 million gallons of water from MLGW in March to power the data center. Each day the company is draining 812,502 gallons from the pristine Memphis Sand Aquifer — the source of the Memphis area’s drinking water — to cool its center.
Last week, a SpaceX subsidiary bought 13 acres of land from the city near its facility for $820,000. Memphis Mayor Paul Young said at the time that the move made him more hopeful about the company’s intent to build a greywater facility for its operations — though notably, the company said nothing publicly.
As questions about the promised water treatment plant lingered, council members requested an update from Memphis Mayor Paul Young’s administration Tuesday. That meeting became tense at times as Young’s Chief Legal Officer Tannera George Gibson spoke only vaguely about the project despite direct questions from council members.
“I would just love to hear an update on the land sale and what … you’ve put in that contract to help us be sure that they are gonna build this greywater facility and build it on time,” said council member Jerri Green to Gibson.
Gibson said she agreed to speak only to the “extent that I can.” The land deal was closed in mid-May. The company has one year to begin substantial construction. If they don’t, the city can take the land back, she said.
Green pushed again, asking Gibson directly, “Do we know how far along they are in construction?”
Gibson said she did not know but said she’d heard conversations about permitting for the project in April, but she “was not super familiar with” the timeline.
Without firm information from Gibson, Green pivoted to gut feelings.
“What is the administration’s feeling or position that they are going to finish this greywater facility?” she asked.
“The feelings are pretty positive, pretty strong based on recent conversations,” Gibson said.
With this in hand, Green then shifted the conversation to ownership: If the facility is built, who will own it and run it?
“The city will not run or operate this facility,” said Public Works Director Scott Morgan.
However, council member JB Smiley said he remembered the notion that “at some point the keys would be turned over to the city of Memphis to operate it … I know I heard that.”
Morgan said the city does not “have the capacity to own or operate” the facility. Gibson said it was “always discussed” that xAI would own and operate it.
For Smiley, this was yet another statement about the xAI greywater facility that has seemed to shift over the past few weeks. He said there was definitely going to be such a facility, then an indefinite pause, and now there’s a path to having one again. Then, the city would get the keys to the facility, now it won’t.
“I think the council would’ve taken a different position if we would’ve known what we were told was … I won’t go as far as to say a lie, but we … ,” Smiley said, yielding the discussion to Gibson.
“I would be very careful making such characterizations,” Gibson said.
Following this committee meeting, the council was set to meet in secret with its attorney, during which the topic of the greywater facility would likely emerge. Then, the council will likely hear more information about it during its executive session meeting, just ahead of this afternoon’s full council meeting.
