A federal judge has denied xAI’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the NAACP accusing the company of operating gas turbines at its Colossus data center near Memphis without required air pollution permits.
According to TechCrunch, the Southern Environmental Law Center, representing the NAACP, alleges that xAI “installed and operated at least 35 combustion turbines and other sources of air pollution at the Colossus site without ever obtaining the necessary preconstruction or operating air permits,” violating the Clean Air Act.
xAI argued the turbines are exempt from permitting requirements because they are mobile and that the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue. Judge Debra M. Brown rejected both arguments in her decision. “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,” Brown wrote.
The judge also addressed xAI’s constitutional challenge to citizen lawsuits, writing 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.”
In a statement, NAACP director of environmental and climate justice Abre’ Connor called the ruling “another important victory in our effort to hold xAI accountable,” adding that “xAI cannot operate gas turbines without the required permits.” A similar motion to dismiss from the Department of Justice was denied earlier in October, according to the report.