Horrifying discovery was just made near Elon Musk's data center

An elementary school sits one mile from a power plant that was never permitted to operate. The families living half a mile away didn’t know it was being built until the noise began.

That power plant belongs to xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company and now a subsidiary of SpaceX. It consists of 27 gas turbines operating without an air permit in Southaven, Mississippi, effectively functioning as a private power plant for the Colossus 2 data center, which runs xAI’s Grok chatbot. The turbines were quietly installed and switched on. No permits were sought, no public hearings were held, and no nearby residents were formally notified of what was coming. The Elon Musk data center discovery sparked a federal lawsuit filed by the NAACP in April 2026 against Musk’s xAI and its subsidiary MZX Tech, alleging the turbines were unlawfully operated without an air permit.

The Department of Justice responded not by enforcing environmental law, but by asking a Mississippi federal court to dismiss the NAACP’s case, accusing the organization in its motion of threatening “American national, economic, and energy security” by seeking to shut off the power supply for AI development. The communities next to the turbines, meanwhile, are still breathing the same air.

The Elon Musk Data Center Discovery That Started a Federal Lawsuit

The NAACP’s lawsuit, filed April 14, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, explains that xAI is illegally operating 27 gas turbines without an air permit in Southaven, Mississippi, effectively building a power plant for its Colossus 2 data center, which powers the company’s chatbot, Grok. The scale of the facility is not small. The gas turbines occupy a sprawling 114 acres, the equivalent of nearly 87 football fields. And despite being described by xAI as temporary units, as of May 2026 the number of turbines at the Southaven plant had grown to 57.

After the NAACP filed suit, the Trump administration’s DOJ sided with Musk’s company and asked the court to let it intervene as a plaintiff and dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the NAACP threatens “American national, economic, and energy security” by seeking to shut off the power supply for artificial intelligence innovation. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves submitted a supporting letter, writing that xAI’s $20 billion investment would create thousands of jobs and that shutting down the turbines would cause “an immediate and substantial disruption to the state’s economy.”

This isn’t the first time xAI built a power plant in the Memphis area without permits or public oversight. The Southern Environmental Law Center notes the company began operations at its first site, Colossus 1, in June 2024 and used as many as 35 unpermitted gas turbines to power the facility. Despite intense public pushback, xAI officials said the company planned on “copying and pasting” its unlawful turbine strategy to power Colossus 2.

What’s Actually Coming Out of Those Turbines

The emissions picture, laid out in filings from Earthjustice, is striking. xAI’s power plant in Southaven has the potential to emit more than 1,700 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides per year, numbers that likely make the facility the largest industrial source of NOx in the greater Memphis area – an area already failing to meet national smog standards. Beyond NOx, the illegal turbines also have the potential to release up to 180 tons of fine particulate matter, 500 tons of carbon monoxide, and 19 tons of formaldehyde per year.

Each of those pollutants carries documented health consequences. Formaldehyde is not merely an industrial nuisance. According to a December 2025 EPA risk assessment, formaldehyde inhalation can cause nasopharyngeal cancer, sinonasal cancer, and myeloid leukemia. The EPA also classifies stationary combustion turbines as major sources of hazardous air pollutants, including formaldehyde, toluene, benzene, and acetaldehyde. Long-term formaldehyde exposure at lower levels is tied to reduced lung function, increased asthma prevalence, and worsening asthma control, according to OSHA.

Fine particulate matter – the PM2.5 particles – presents a separate and serious problem. These particles are small enough to bypass the respiratory system’s usual defenses. Just south of the Tennessee-Mississippi state line, the turbines release smog-forming pollution, soot, and hazardous chemicals directly into the air near homes and communities. A 2024 study found that a tenfold increase in hourly PM2.5 concentration corresponded to a 39% increase in cough frequency in the same hour – a concrete signal of how quickly airborne particle spikes translate into measurable physical effects.

Nitrogen dioxide rounds out the toxic triad. The Southern Environmental Law Center contends the 27 turbines together are likely the largest industrial source of nitrogen oxides in the greater Memphis area, and the federal government regulates NOx emissions because they can be harmful to the human respiratory system. According to the EPA, breathing air with high concentrations of NO2 can irritate airways and aggravate respiratory diseases, particularly asthma, and can lead to hospital admissions.

An Area Already Struggling With Air Quality

Memphis and its surrounding counties were not starting from a clean baseline. The greater Memphis area is already failing to meet national smog standards, and the American Lung Association’s 2026 State of the Air report ranked the Memphis metro area 27th worst in the nation for ozone smog pollution, with Shelby County earning an F grade – the worst ozone reading in Tennessee. Ozone pollution at those levels causes breathing problems, reduces lung function, exacerbates asthma, and over time can contribute to chronic lung disease.

The NAACP’s suit also draws attention to the disproportionate share of Black residents living near the turbines. DeSoto County, where the Southaven plant sits, has a Black population of approximately 32.6%, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The filing notes that “a much larger share of this population is Black than that of the country’s population as a whole,” and that residents near the turbines face exposure to harmful emissions associated with conditions ranging from asthma and respiratory illness to heart disease and certain cancers.

“By looking to evade clean air laws to operate dirty turbines that emit pollution and known carcinogens, these companies are following a shameful, familiar pattern: asking Black and frontline communities to bear the toxic brunt of ‘innovation,'” said Abre’ Conner, NAACP Director of Environmental and Climate Justice.

This situation is part of a broader pattern of frontline communities being exposed to industrial pollution without adequate legal protection – a pattern examined in detail in our coverage of how the Trump administration granted Clean Air Act exemptions to major polluters.

The Government Steps In – on xAI’s Side

Cameron Stanley, the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer, submitted a sworn declaration arguing that xAI’s Grok model is one of only four AI systems capable of supporting national security applications, according to The Hill. Stanley argued that if the Colossus 2 data center were shut down due to a lack of power, “xAI would lose capacity to train and develop future, improved versions of Grok,” and that if xAI were hindered from upgrading Grok, the Department of Defense’s ability to meet its national security mission would be impaired.

The DOJ’s filing went further than just the national security argument, objecting to all “citizen suits” under the Clean Air Act on constitutional grounds – claiming that decisions about whether to enforce federal law rest exclusively with the executive branch and cannot be overridden by a private citizen suit, even one Congress has expressly authorized. Legal observers noted this framing carries significant implications: if accepted, it would give the executive branch broad authority to shut down environmental enforcement actions brought by private citizens whenever they conflict with administration priorities.

The Southern Environmental Law Center described the DOJ’s move as a “massive power grab.” Earthjustice Director of Enforcement Laura Thoms put it plainly: “It’s remarkable for the United States to intervene on behalf of a polluter in a case like this. Ordinarily, they would intervene to enforce the law.”

Meanwhile, the NAACP pressed forward. Rather than fixing the problems after the lawsuit was filed, xAI brought six additional gas turbines on site, bringing the total number of turbines to 33 at the time the NAACP filed its request for a preliminary injunction.

Residents Sue Over Noise as Pollution Fight Continues

Air quality is not the only issue. A separate class action lawsuit filed in June 2026 in US District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi represents an estimated class of over 10,000 residents. Their complaint: the gas-turbine power plant supplying energy to xAI’s Colossus data centers is producing nonstop noise that’s ruining their health and tanking their property values.

Residents allege the noise consists of “a combination of high-pitched squealing, continuous engine roaring, low-frequency rumbling, and tonal humming or whining that travels across property lines and into area homes.” Residents have measured noise levels from the Southaven power plant that exceed 70 A-weighted decibels at their property lines, which violates Southaven’s noise ordinance. xAI has installed a $7 million sound wall and is evaluating additional mitigation measures, but plaintiffs allege residents are “no longer able to spend time in their yards or on their decks; no longer able to open their windows and doors to get fresh air or cool their homes; no longer able to relax inside their homes because the sound and vibrations penetrate the walls.”

A Gallup poll from May 2026 found that seven in ten Americans said they oppose the construction of data centers for AI in their local area. Nearly half – 48% – said they were strongly opposed.

What This Means for Communities Near Data Centers

The Southaven case has become a test of whether environmental law can still protect ordinary people when the federal government chooses to side with the entity accused of breaking it. The NAACP is asking the court to declare that xAI has violated the Clean Air Act, force the company to stop operating unpermitted turbines at its Southaven facility, order it to install the best available pollution control technology, and impose daily financial penalties for every day it violated federal law. The Mississippi complaint also specifies potential fines of up to $124,426 per day of violation.

The power plant sits half a mile from homes and one mile from an elementary school. The pollutants being emitted – formaldehyde, nitrogen oxides, and fine particulate matter – don’t stay at the fence line. They move with the wind, and the people most likely to absorb the highest concentrations are those who live, work, and go to school closest to the source.

“There are no loopholes or exceptions – xAI is breaking the law while leaving local communities to deal with the consequences,” SELC Senior Attorney Patrick Anderson said. The Clean Air Act’s permitting requirement exists precisely because communities cannot assess – let alone consent to – pollution risks they don’t know about until after the pollution has begun. The air quality does not wait for a court’s decision. A preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for late August 2026, months after residents started measuring exceedances at their fence lines.

AI Disclaimer: This article was created with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by a human editor.

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