NAACP invites Memphis officials to stop operations at Xai’s “Dirty Data Center”
NAACP is asking local officials to suspend operations at Colossus, a “supercomputer” facility run by Elon Musk’s Xai in Southern Memphis.
As Reported on NBC Newscivil rights group leaders I sent a letter on Thursday He criticizes the organization’s “insufficient approach to the operation of this dirty data center” and calls for Xai to “issues an emergency order to stop operations entirely.”
The letter raised certain concerns about the gas turbines Xai runs to power Colossus. The company has applied for a license Continue operating 15 gas turbines At the facility, the NAACP said that the authorities have “allowed Xai to operate at least 35 gas turbines without allowing them” over the past year. City officials previously said Xai does not require a first year permit for the turbine.
These turbines It reportedly emits harmful air pollutantsincluding formaldehyde, at levels above the EPA limits. The NAACP letter pointed to the turbine’s nitrogen oxide emissions.
Noting that the Colossus facility, called “historically black communities,” is located near the Boxttown area of South Memphis, the NAACP said the location perpetuates “an industry trend that adds pollution to communities that do not cause problems.”
“The (Shelby County Health Department) allows Xai to work beyond the law instead of working to mitigate locally known health issues, including already four times the national average,” the NAACP added.
The NAACP letter is addressed to director Michelle Taylor, Shelby County Health Director, and to the Memphis Wright Gas and Water Commissioner. Taylor is Leave her role He became a commissioner for the Baltimore City Health Department in Shelby County.
TechCrunch contacted NAACP and Xai for comments. A Memphis Light Gas and Water spokesman told NBC News he had not yet received the NAACP letter.