NAACP calls on Memphis officials to halt operations at xAI’s ‘dirty data center’
The NAACP calls on local officials to stop the operations in Colossus, the “supercomputer” facility managed by Elon Musk’s Xai in South Memphis.
When reported in NBC NewsLeaders of the civil rights group sent a letter on Thursday On the Shelby County Health Department and Memphis Light Gas and Water that criticize the “Delactadaisical approach of the organizations for the operation of this dirty data center and call them to” issue an emergency assignment for Xai to fully stop the operations ” – or if there is no order to have a fell to be at least.
The letter expressed special concerns about the guest turbines that Xai runs to the power of Colossus. The company has applied for a permit to continue to serve 15 guest turbines in the facility, although the NAACP said that the authorities “allowed XAI to operate at least 35 guest turbines without allowing any” in the past year. City officials have previously said that Xai did not need permits for the first year of use of the turbines.
These turbines Allegedly they emit dangerous air pollutantsIncluding formaldehyde, at levels that exceed the EPA limits. The letter from the NAACP also pointed to the emissions of the nitrogen oxide of the turbines.
Note that the Colossus facility is located near the Boxtown district of South Memphis, which described the letter as a ‘historic black community’, the NACP said that the location ‘the trend of industries adding pollution to communities that do not cause the problem maintains’.
“Instead of [the Shelby County Health Department] Working on reducing health problems that are known in the area, including that cancer risks have already been the national average four times, has enabled XAI to operate above the law, “the NAACP added.
The letter from the NAACP is addressed to Shelby County Health Department Director Michelle Taylor, as well as Memphis Light Gas and Water’s Commissioners; Taylor is leave its role In Shelby County to become a commissioner of the Baltimore City Health department.
WAN has contacted the NAACP and Xai for comment. A spokesperson for Memphis Light Gas and Water told NBC News that it had not yet received the NAACP letter.
