xAI loses bid to dismiss NAACP pollution suit over Memphis turbines

For xAI, the Colossus data centre outside Memphis now faces a Clean Air Act case over its gas turbines after a federal judge refused to dismiss it. The NAACP, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, alleges that xAI operated gas turbines at the site without the required preconstruction or operating air permits. The plaintiffs say xAI installed and operated at least 35 combustion turbines and other sources of air pollution there.

xAI made three arguments: that its turbines are mobile and therefore exempt from permitting, that the plaintiffs lack standing, and that citizen suits like this one are unconstitutional. Judge Debra M. Brown rejected all three. She found the plaintiffs have statutory standing and that the turbines are not mobile sources under Mississippi's State Implementation Plan. She also ruled that the citizen-suit provision does not violate Article II of the Constitution or the private nondelegation doctrine. Her reasoning was that citizen-suit plaintiffs sue in their own name and seek penalties for harm to themselves, so they are not exercising the federal government's executive power.

A similar motion to dismiss from the Justice Department was also denied earlier in October, according to TechCrunch's report. Abre' Connor, the NAACP's director of environmental and climate justice, said: "Our position has been clear: xAI cannot operate gas turbines without the required permits."

Opposition to data centres is growing. New York has passed a moratorium on new data centres. The article gives no timeline for the case, which now moves into litigation. TechCrunch reached out to SpaceX for comment, and no response is reported.

The ruling removes the easiest route out for xAI. Its defence rested on the claim that the turbines are mobile and need no permits. At this stage the court has rejected that claim, which leaves the permit question for the case to settle.

Groups weighing similar suits gain too. A court has now upheld the citizen-suit provision against constitutional challenge, which takes away one argument that operators could raise at this stage. Watch the next steps in the litigation and whether SpaceX responds to TechCrunch's request for comment.