A federal judge denied xAI’s motion to dismiss an NAACP lawsuit that alleges the SpaceX-owned company operated gas turbines at its Colossus data center outside Memphis without the required air permits. The lawsuit, brought on behalf of the NAACP by the Southern Environmental Law Center, claims xAI “installed and operated at least 35 combustion turbines and other sources of air pollution at the Colossus site” without obtaining necessary preconstruction or operating air permits and that the company violated the Clean Air Act.
xAI’s arguments and the court’s ruling
xAI had asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing the turbines are exempt from permitting requirements because they are mobile sources, and also contended the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue. In her decision, Judge Debra M. Brown rejected those arguments and wrote: “Because the plaintiffs have statutory standing under the Clean Air Act, because the combustion turbines are not ‘mobile sources’ under Mississippi’s [State Implementation Plan], and because the citizen suit provision does not violate Article II of the Constitution or the private nondelegation doctrine, the plaintiffs’ claims will proceed.”
Addressing xAI’s constitutional challenge to citizen suits, Judge Brown added that “Because citizen suit plaintiffs sue on their own behalf, in their own name, and seek penalties that redress harm to themselves, they are not exercising the federal government’s executive power.”
Responses and legal context
Abre’ Connor, the NAACP’s director of environmental and climate justice, called the ruling “another important victory in our effort to hold xAI accountable.” The Southern Environmental Law Center represents the NAACP in the litigation. The article notes that a similar motion to dismiss filed by the Department of Justice was denied earlier this month.
TechCrunch reached out to SpaceX for comment.
Broader implications
The lawsuit is moving forward amid growing public opposition to large data centers. New York recently enacted a moratorium on new data centers, and other state and local governments are considering similar measures. The public backlash has also led companies such as Amazon and Microsoft to promise to stop using nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) in dealings with government agencies. The dispute over data centers and permitting could be a notable factor in the upcoming U.S. midterm elections.
(Facts reported reflect the court decision, the claims by the NAACP and Southern Environmental Law Center, xAI’s arguments, and the wider political context as presented in the source article.)
