New study finds proposed xAI gas plant could worsen regional air pollution, cause millions of dollars in annual health damages

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A new study found that xAI’s plans to install and operate more than 40 permanent methane gas turbines to power its Colossus 2 data center would significantly increase air pollution in communities across North Mississippi and West Tennessee and impose tens of millions of dollars in health damages.

xAI began operations at its second South Memphis data center, Colossus 2, late last year. To meet the data center’s massive power demand, xAI installed 27 unpermitted gas turbines at a nearby location in Southaven, Mississippi. Meanwhile, the company is seeking a permit to build and operate a future gas plant with 41 permanent turbines at the Southaven site. The new study focused on the proposed 41 turbines.

LINK: Read the full study on the air pollution impacts of xAI’s Colossus 2 data center

Gas turbines like the ones being used by xAI release huge amounts of pollution, including smog-forming nitrogen oxides, chemicals like formaldehyde, and fine particulate matter—also known as PM_2.5. Because fine particulate matter travels deep into the lungs and bloodstream, it significantly increases the risk of asthma, heart attacks, respiratory disease, strokes, and other serious health conditions. There is no safe level of exposure to fine particulate matter and health risks increase as concentrations rise.

Despite these health risks, the proposed air permit for xAI’s Colossus 2 data center would allow the facility to pump out nearly 20 tons of fine particle pollution each year from the 41 permanent gas turbines, along with hundreds of tons of precursor pollutants that form additional fine particles downwind.

The independent study, conducted by EmPower Analytics Group and commissioned by the Southern Environmental Law Center, was led by a Harvard-trained environmental health scientist Dr. Michael Cork and shows that operation of xAI’s proposed permanent gas turbines would measurably increase health risks for families throughout the area—even in places as far away as Germantown and North Memphis. Some communities could see increases of fine particle pollution of .5 micrograms per cubic meter, a level linked to an increase in per-person mortality risk comparable in scale to the average annual risk of death from alcohol-impaired driving in the United States. The communities seeing the largest increases in particulate pollution include:

• Whitehaven (Shelby County, Tenn.)
• Horn Lake (DeSoto County, Miss.)  
• Westwood (Shelby County, Tenn.)
• Southaven (DeSoto County, Miss.)

“This report confirms that xAI’s rapidly expanding footprint in Memphis and Southaven comes at a cost to local communities, regardless of which side of the state line you live on,” Amanda Garcia, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, said. “Families in Memphis and North Mississippi are already struggling with poor air quality. We need local leaders to step up to protect community health.”

The report also examined the economic impact of air pollution from the proposed permanent turbines at xAI facility, finding that it could result in an estimated $30-$44 million in annual health damages each year. Those damages are driven by serious health impacts linked to air pollution, including premature deaths, new and worsening asthma, nonfatal heart attacks, hospital visits, and missed school days

“Our analysis shows that operating 41 gas turbines in Southaven would worsen fine particle pollution in vulnerable communities that are already near or above federal air quality standards and could result in $30-$44 millions of dollars in annual health damages,” said Dr. Cork.

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality is hosting a public hearing on the proposed permit for the xAI facility on Tuesday, February 17 at 6 p.m. at Northwest Mississippi Community College’s DeSoto County campus in Southaven.