Kailynn Johnson at The Memphis Flyer:
The mail said the turbines are designed to protect the air with “air quality levels similar to those from a neighborhood gas station. It cited that the Environmental Protection Agency refers to facilities like the xAI plant as “minor contributors” to air quality.
While the group said there are only 15 turbines operating, [Representative Justin] Pearson said this is false.
“Thanks to the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), we know the truth – there are actually 35 gas turbines on site,” Pearson said. “The misinformation being sent to our neighbors conveniently leaves out the 20 additional gas turbines xAI failed to report.”
The mailers are being sent by a group named “Facts Over Fear.” Looking for them online — even using that P.O. Box address —doesn’t turn up much of anything useful.
Eric Hilt, writing for the SELC:
On Wednesday, a coalition of conservation and community organizations shared new information with the Shelby County Health Department that clearly shows xAI—a company founded by Elon Musk to run X’s chatbot ‘Grok’—has nearly doubled the number of on-site gas turbines at its South Memphis datacenter and is violating the Clean Air Act.
Recently, the coalition obtained aerial images of the xAI datacenter with the help of the organization SouthWings. Those images revealed that, in order to power the facility, xAI is using 35 methane gas turbines—far more than previously known and more than the company has submitted permit applications for. The number of turbines and extent of their emissions means xAI is required to have what’s called a ‘major source permit;’ however the datacenter continues to illegally operate these turbines without any permit at all.
“xAI has essentially built a power plant in South Memphis with no oversight, no permitting, and no regard for families living in nearby communities. These dozens of gas turbines are doing significant harm to the air Memphians breathe every day. We expect local health leaders to promptly act in order to hold xAI accountable for its clear violations of the Clean Air Act,” Southern Environmental Law Center Senior Attorney Amanda Garcia said.