Environmentalists urge health department to take action on xAI
Emissions coming from the gas turbines powering xAI's supercomputer Aug. 9, 2024. (Benjamin Naylor/The Daily Memphian file)
The Southern Environmental Law Center, representing several Memphis environmental advocacy groups, urged the Shelby County Health Department Monday, Aug. 26, to take action regarding the unpermitted gas turbines operating at xAI’s supercomputer.
The Daily Memphian recently reported that xAI operates combustion gas turbines without an air emissions permit. The Environment Protection Agency considers turbines, like the ones being used at the xAI supercomputer in Southwest Memphis, a significant source of hazardous air pollutants.
“We therefore call on Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) to verify that xAI is operating these turbines without the required air permit and bring an appropriate enforcement action for failing to obtain a permit,” the letter said. “If xAI is indeed operating these turbines illegally without a permit, SCHD should order them to cease operations until they obtain a permit, as the agency has done as recently as 2021 for another source operating without a permit.”
Residents, activists voice concerns, hear details of xAI project
The SELC wrote its letter for three environmental groups — Memphis Community Against Pollution; Young, Gifted and Green; and the Sierra Club. The center also sent the letter to the EPA and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
On Tuesday, the health department responded to The Daily Memphian ...
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Samuel Hardiman
Samuel Hardiman is an enterprise and investigative reporter who focuses on local government and politics. He began his journalism career at the Tulsa World in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he covered business and, later, K-12 education. Hardiman came to Memphis in 2018 to join the Memphis Business Journal, covering government and economic development. He then served as the Memphis Commercial Appeal’s city hall reporter and later joined The Daily Memphian in 2023. His current work focuses on Elon Musk’s xAI, regional energy needs and how Memphis and Shelby County government spend taxpayer dollars.
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