MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – We’re getting results about air quality in neighborhoods around xAI following a study led by the Memphis Community Against Pollution (MCAP) and the Center of Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health (CEEJH).
Last year, the groups placed sensors around Southwest Memphis within a certain radius of the nearby xAI facility.
Data collected found peaks in ozone, which the environmental groups say can lead to respiratory health issues. The completed air quality report was presented Thursday at Riverside M. Baptist Church.
The report was a response to another air quality study done by the City of Memphis.
The city concluded that there were few to no pollutants in the area; but of the 10 pollutants the city tested for, ozone was not one.
“We have the science, we have the data that proves the air we are breathing is terrible, and it has contributed to illnesses and respiratory problems,” said KeShaun Pearson, founder of MCAP.
Pearson says the areas most impacted by xAI’s gas turbines are majority-Black neighborhoods, “which are majority low-wealth. And why the motivations for a public institution or public official to release a document which is counterintuitive to what we know is true, we can only speculate.”
The groups say the city’s third-party monitor didn’t address EPA standards, and also say their results are flawed for not testing for ozone or smog.
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