Trump's DOJ Seeks to End Lawsuit Against xAI Data Center – Earth.Org
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The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is accusing xAI of violating the Clean Air Act by “illegally” installing dozens of methane gas turbines in Southaven, near Memphis, to power its massive AI data center.
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The Trump administration is intervening in a lawsuit over claims that Elon Musk’s AI company is polluting neighborhoods in South Memphis, Mississippi.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots-based civil rights organization, filed a lawsuit against xAI in April. It is accusing the company of violating the Clean Air Act in relation to its Colossus 2 data center in Southaven, a city 14 miles south of downtown Memphis. It alleges that the company installed dozens of methane gas turbines to power its AI data center but failed to obtain the legally required federal air permits.
“The turbines — which power the company’s Grok chatbot and other AI tools — are now spewing toxic nitrogen oxides and formaldehyde into communities already suffering from poor air quality,” Earthjustice, which represents NAACP alongside the Southern Environmental Law Center, said this week. It added that since they notified xAI of their intent to sue, the number of turbines, each one the size of a large bus, has grown from 27 to 59.
The lawsuit demands daily fines of roughly $124,000 for xAI’s alleged pollution violations, alongside an injunction to halt the turbines until proper permits are obtained. xAI has previously countered that permits are not required for temporary turbine operations.
In a 33-page memo filed on Monday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the Mississippi federal court to dismiss the case. The DOJ argued that the citizen suit – a type of lawsuit filed by private citizens to enforce a statute – “threatens American national, economic, and energy security by seeking to shut off the power supply for artificial-intelligence innovation that supports the Department of War’s military operations.” It did not directly dispute claims that the facility is generating harmful pollution.
The department added that there is “no question” the US is entitled to intervene in and dismiss such lawsuits, arguing that “the Clean Air Act affords the United States primacy over citizen-enforcers when it comes to enforcement discretion.” Earthjustice said the claim is “both dangerous and unprecedented” and a “blatant attempt to take power away from local communities, the courts, and Congress and consolidate it with the Trump administration.”
xAI also operates a second data center in South Memphis near Boxtown – a historic, predominantly Black community. Pollution from the turbines is worsening air quality in the area, where residents already face disproportionately high rates of cancer and asthma. Memphis has one of the highest rates of toxic air releases of any American cities and has a long history of failing to meet national air quality standards for ozone pollution (smog), consistently receiving “F” grades from the American Lung Association.
According to Earthjustice, Colossus 2 alone is able to emit more than 5,300 tons of nitrogen oxides, 433 tons of fine particulate matter and 47 tons of formaldehyde, a carcinogen, into nearby communities – pollutants tied to increases in asthma, heart disease, respiratory illnesses, and cancer.
“A data center should not be a potential death sentence for a community’s health,” said Abre’ Conner, NAACP Director of Environmental and Climate Justice. “By looking to evade clear air laws to operate dirty turbines that emit pollution and known carcinogens, these companies are following a shameful, familiar pattern: asking Black and frontline communities to bear the toxic brunt of ‘innovation.’”
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