xAI Is Moving Into a Community Already Saturated By Pollutants

Locals in Shelby County, Memphis, are staunchly opposing Elon Musk's xAI and its data centers entering their community due to environmental concerns.

Memphis industrial area with pollution

By Hazel Gandhi

Elon Musk-owned xAI began operating a data center called Colossus in Shelby County, Memphis, in June 2024 to power its chatbot Grok. Locals and activists have since protested the company's foray into their community, claiming that the data center's emissions are severely harming Shelby County's air quality.

Roughly 2 miles from xAI's data center is Boxtown, a majority Black community settled by formerly enslaved families. The community believes that after a history of racial injustice, they are now being subjected to climate inequity as well.

The gas turbines used by xAI for their data center will directly impact the people of this community and the air they breathe. This is an issue for the locals especially since Shelby County already has the poorest levels of air quality in the country, severely high rates of pediatric asthma and a high-risk exposure to cancer because of the emissions of existing industries in the area, according to the Southern Environtal Law Center.

xAI's turbines are projected to emit 1000-1200 tons of nitrogen oxides per year. While this is far less than the emissions of other industrial sources in the country, this estimate could be underrepresented because a) Colossus is the largest supercomputer being built in the country and b) the estimates do not include all Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) or other carcinogenic emissions. Neither xAI nor the Shelby County Health Department have been transparent about their process for measuring and controlling the emissions of the site.

The mainstream media has reported a lot on xAI's move into the community, but there has been very little coverage about the already existing indsutries in the area that are polluting the county's health.

An analysis of the National Emissions Inventory released by the EPA reveals that the 10 most pollution-causing facilities collectively emitted 3.5 million tons of pollutants in 2020. These include HAPs that cause birth defects and other health conditions, Criteria Air Pollutants or CAPs including ground-level ozone and carbon monoxide, as well as Greenhouse Gases or GHGs.

The TVA's Allen Fossil Plant, which is the largest polluter in the county and accounted for 1.4 million tons of total emissions in 2020 has been operational since 1959. Since then, many others have made their way into this community, but very few receive the same amount of coverage as xAI's data center. Here are other industries and factories that make up for the largest polluters in the county:

According to the NEI, there are at least 50 other faciliites in Shelby County alone causing severe pollution in the area.

xAI's projected emissions are already in violation of the Clean Air Act, according to the Southern Environmental Law Center. The group also alleges that the company has illegally obtained exemptions for air permits to use its 15 gas turbines.

However, some people also believe that xAI might be doing something different for the community. They announced plans to use a greywater facility to recycle the water they use to cool down their servers. Others also believe that a company this large entering the county would create jobs and benefit the commmunity economically. Local activists along with Tennessee State Representative Justin Pearson continue to advocate against Colossus despite this, citing years of climate racism and injustice.