There, too, xAI ran turbines for months before it sought air permits. Residents of a nearby predominantly Black neighborhood called Boxtown told NBC News at the time that they were experiencing health issues.
“Mississippi has a long and powerful history of making decisions intensifying environment harms of Black and low-income communities, treating our neighbors as a sacrifice zone,” Robert James, president of the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP, said at the Southaven hearing.
Jason Haley, bottom left, and Taylor Logsdon, top right, residents of Southaven, Miss.
Jason Haley, bottom left, and Taylor Logsdon, top right, residents of Southaven, spoke at a public hearing hosted at Northwest Community College on Feb. 17 to express concerns about air and noise pollution coming from xAI’s turbines. Houston Cofield for NBC News
On Feb. 13, the Southern Environmental Law Center gave xAI a 60-day notice over the Southaven turbines, saying it plans to sue the company on behalf of the NAACP under the Clean Air Act. Environmental advocates say xAI’s temporary turbines rival a conventional power plant with the ability to power thousands of homes.
The Southern Environmental Law Center has said recent changes to Environmental Protection Agency rules confirmed that temporary turbines, like the ones xAI uses, require permits.
Asked about the change, the EPA referred to Administrator Lee Zeldin’s remarks last month about the rule’s potential impact on xAI.
“Not everything on the internet is true,” Zeldin told Fox Business.
In the past, xAI has said it follows the law, complies with regulations and uses technology to limit emissions.
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, which regulates clean air standards, said the state doesn’t require permits for what it considers temporary turbines — and told xAI they can’t be used longer than a year. The agency added that it wouldn’t comment on pending litigation.
The agency said that it takes community concerns seriously but that its role is “limited to air quality matters.” Last year, it urged xAI to run the turbines “in a manner that minimizes the emission of nitrogen oxides,” or the gases that contribute to smog.
The new xAi plant in Southaven, Miss.
Southaven’s mayor said engineers are working on future noise mitigation measures.
After the public hearing, Krystal Polk stood in the dark and recorded the turbines’ howls from her family’s yard, just a few hundred feet from xAI’s property.
