NAACP files new motion in ongoing lawsuit against xAI’s Southaven facilities

The NAACP and the NAACP Mississippi State Conference have filed a new motion in their ongoing fight against xAI and MZX Tech over their use of gas turbines at xAI’s Stanton Road facility in DeSoto County.

The motion — which asks the court’s permission to submit new evidence in its pending suit against the tech giant — claims xAI has expanded much more rapidly than anticipated and, as a result, poses a greater risk to nearby communities than previously presented.

On Tuesday, April 14, the NAACP filed a federal lawsuit against xAI and MZX Tech for operating dozens of unpermitted natural gas turbines to power their data center in North Mississippi. The new motion, filed on Wednesday, June 10, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, suggests xAI now operates at least 57 turbines at the facility.

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) in March approved the construction of 41 gas-powered turbines at the Southaven plant to power xAI’s nearby data center. That permit was promptly appealed by the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of the NAACP, Young Gifted & Green, and the Safe and Sound Coalition. The appeal is not directly connected to the lawsuit.

The April lawsuit claims that MDEQ’s permit does not properly cover or reflect the turbines actually installed at the site. Additionally, the plaintiff filed an injunction in the lawsuit in May, indicating that 33 turbines were being operated at the time.

Wednesday’s motion serves to update that number:

“The Colossus Gas Plant is even more colossal now than it was when Plaintiffs filed their Motion for Preliminary Injunction. In a matter of weeks, [the defendants] began construction on 24 more combustion turbines at their Southaven, Mississippi site, materially increasing the pollution faced by the area’s frontline and Black community members, including NAACP and NAACP MS members.”

The motion claims that the jump from 33 turbines to 57 more than doubles the facility’s nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide emissions, increases its formaldehyde output by nearly 90%, and increases its output of other pollutants, according to analyses attached to the filing.

“For PM2.5 and NO2 in particular, no safe level of exposure has been identified,” the motion reads. “Any increase in ambient concentrations therefore increases the potential for adverse public health consequences, including increased risks of cardiovascular and respiratory effects.”