xAI, the data center company founded by Elon Musk, is operating 46 temporary “mobile” natural gas turbines at a Southaven, Mississippi, site without state air permits, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality said.
The company uses the turbines to power two data centers in nearby Memphis and plans another large center in Southaven, Mississippi Today reported. Because MDEQ considers the units “mobile” — they are mounted on flatbed trailers — the agency allows them to operate without an air permit for up to a year, MDEQ officials told Mississippi Today.
MDEQ said xAI increased its tally of temporary turbines from 18 when it first arrived last year to 46, adding 19 units between March 25 and May 2. Agency spokesperson Jan Schaefer wrote in an email that “all portable/temporary turbines are equipped with control technology to minimize emissions” and that MDEQ is “evaluating the situation” and will notify the facility when it can no longer bring additional units on site.
The NAACP sued xAI last month over the lack of permits and requested an injunction after learning the company had increased the number of temporary turbines to 33, the organization said. The Southern Environmental Law Center, which represents the NAACP in the lawsuit, appealed a state permit board decision in March that approved air permits for 41 permanent gas generators at the Southaven operation and asked for a hearing on that approval.
Lawyers from the Southern Environmental Law Center argued in filings and a press release that Mississippi is misreading the federal Clean Air Act by treating the turbines as mobile. The SELC said the turbines have the potential to “emit a staggering amount of toxic air pollution” and warned pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, fine particulate matter and formaldehyde are tied to increased asthma, respiratory and heart disease and certain cancers, the release said. Residents and advocates have complained about constant noise and unchecked emissions, Mississippi Today reported.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
