The National Association for The Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is calling on the Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) and Memphis Light Gas and Water (MLGW) to stop xAI’s operations on behalf of the citizens of Memphis.
In a letter to former SCHD director and health officer, Michelle Taylor, and the MLGW board of commissioners, the advocacy organization criticized both agencies for allowing the data center to operate, while also leaving community members out of important conversations.
Kermit Moore, president of the Memphis Branch of the Tennessee State Conference of the NAACP, Gloria Sweet-Love, president of the Tennessee State Conference, and Abre’ Conner, director of the NAACP’s Center for Environmental and Climate Justice, signed the letter.
The NAACP is asking the agencies to dive deeper into xAI’s impact on public health, fully track the emissions of the site and its air turbines, and issue an emergency order for xAI to “stop operations completely.”
“Members of the community have been left in the dark at all phases of this process, and the public agencies, appointed and elected officials, and companies who they appealed to for help have responded with no sense of urgency to address their concerns,” the letter said. “We are urging you again to ensure that xAI stops operating its unpermitted turbines in violation of clean air and open meeting act laws and to order xAI to pay penalties for operating in violation of the law.”
xAI’s location in Southwest Memphis has been lambasted by community members and elected officials due to its disproportionate effect on a marginalized neighborhood. The NAACP said the project continues the trend of environmental racism in a historically Black community, and emphasized how the health department should be protecting these individuals.
“SCDH making South Memphis a larger sacrifice zone is counter to its mission,” the letter added.
NAACP officials noted that while data centers are popping up all over the country, they still pose a threat to the environment due to their use of energy and water. They cited these as contributors to air pollution and the climate crisis. Elon Musk’ s promise that the facility would be “the world’s largest and most powerful supercomputer,” was also cited as a threat by the organization.
The organization held both the SCHD and MLGW responsible for allowing xAI to operate 35 gas turbines without air permits, which has been a point of controversy for months.
“Our analysis shows these turbines together have a power generating capacity of 421 megawatts — comparable to an entire TVA power plant — all constructed and operating unlawfully without any air permit in Southwest Memphis, a community that is profoundly overburdened with industrial pollution,” the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) said in a statement.
While the Greater Memphis Chamber announced that the temporary gas turbines would be removed in the coming months as the project enters Phase II, the NAACP criticized SCHD and MLGW for allowing xAI to “sidestep the law and clean air standards.”
“SCDH and MLGW should also carefully consider the message it sends when it allows xAI to evade rules meant to protect the community,” the letter said. “Indeed, 35 gas turbines can emit between 1,200 and 2,000 tons of nitrogen oxide per year.”
The letter, dated May 29, was sent a day before it was announced that Taylor would be leaving the health department on August 1 to serve as the Commissioner of Health for the Baltimore City Health Department. This announcement has left many wondering what the future of the xAI will be, as the department is still reviewing the company’s air turbine permit application.
Representative Justin J. Pearson noted that this is a “critical time for public health in Shelby County,” and urged Taylor to deny the xAI permit.
“Dr. Taylor and the health department still have the chance to do what’s right – to leave a legacy rooted in science, ethics, and community: deny xAI’s gas turbine permit,” Pearson said in a statement. “ Doing so would send a clear message that Shelby County is not a dumping ground for hazardous gases, and that here, we protect people over profit.”
