Elon Musk is facing legal action from the NAACP over allegations his company is releasing harmful pollutants into residential communities in northern Mississippi to supply power to one of his data facilities.
The civil rights organization filed the lawsuit in April, claiming that Musk’sartificial intelligence venture, xAI, is in breach of the Clean Air Act by running dozens of methane-gas turbines that discharge harmful pollutants into the atmosphere of residential neighborhoods in northern Mississippi.
The turbines supply electricity to the data facility in Southaven, which primarily supports Musk’s divisive X chatbot, Grok.
The NAACP contends xAI is operating the equipment without proper air permits and is asking a judge to halt the company’s operations.
In June, the Trump administration became involved in the litigation after the Justice Department petitioned a federal court to dismiss it.
According to the lawsuit, the NAACP alleges that xAI ran 57 gas turbines in Southaven that discharge more than 5,000 tons of nitrogen oxides, along with other fine particulate matter and harmful chemicals like formaldehyde each year.
All of these pollutants are associated with elevated risk of asthma, heart disease, respiratory illnesses, and cancer.
“Laws like the Clean Air Act are a bedrock insurance policy for communities to hold polluters accountable for decisions that cause them harm,” said Abre’ Conner, the director of environmental and climate justice for the NAACP.
“This should not be up for debate,” reports the Irish Star.
The NAACP also launched a separate lawsuit in April against Musk’s second data center in Memphis, located near historically Black communities.
Both cases are part of multiple ongoing legal battles nationwide, from Massachusetts to Wisconsin, involving alleged health hazards associated with data centers.
More than 4,000 data centers currently operate across the U.S., according to the United Nations.
In a 33-page brief submitted to Mississippi federal court, the Department of Justice contended that Musk’s data center is developing AI models characterized as “critical to the economy and the Department of War,” highlighting that the military’s Grok was utilized “to deploy over 2,000 munitions to 2,000 distinct targets within 96 hours” during the Iran war, which it labeled as being “paramount.”
The DOJ further maintained that “citizen lawsuits” can be thrown out under the Clean Air Act.
“The Department of Justice will not sit idly by while private organizations use environmental laws to undermine our national security,” said Adam Gustafson, a deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s environment and natural resources division.
Legal counsel for the NAACP challenged the DOJ’s position, arguing that all corporations must comply with environmental regulations.
“There is no moral or legal precedent for this,” stated Laura Thoms, the director of enforcement for Earthjustice, which is representing the NAACP, along with the Southern Environmental Law Center.
“This isn’t about national security; it’s a desperate attempt to protect wealthy tech companies from obeying the laws meant to protect people from pollution.”
