Judge Allows NAACP Lawsuit Over xAI Data Center Pollution to Proceed

A federal judge has denied xAI’s motion to dismiss an NAACP lawsuit over pollution at the company’s Colossus data center outside Memphis. The case will proceed.

The NAACP, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, alleges that xAI installed and operated at least 35 combustion turbines and other pollution sources at the site without required preconstruction or operating air permits. The lawsuit accuses xAI of violating the Clean Air Act.

xAI argued that the turbines are exempt from permitting rules because they are mobile, and that the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue. Judge Debra M. Brown rejected those arguments, finding that the turbines are not mobile sources under Mississippi’s State Implementation Plan and that the plaintiffs have standing under the Clean Air Act. She also rejected challenges to the constitutionality of the law’s citizen-suit provision.

The Southern Environmental Law Center brought the case on the NAACP’s behalf. In a statement, the NAACP’s director of environmental and climate justice, Abre’ Connor, called the ruling “another important victory” in the group’s effort to hold xAI accountable. Connor said the organization’s position is that xAI cannot operate gas turbines without required permits.

TechCrunch reported that it had reached out to SpaceX for comment. The article also notes that a similar dismissal motion from the Department of Justice was denied earlier this month.