NAACP sues xAI for alleged Clean Air Act violations in Southaven

Jason Haley of Southaven, MS, gave public comment against the Southaven turbines permit for xAI that MDEQ Permit Board approved later in the meeting.

This story will be updated.

The NAACP has moved forward with its plans to sue xAI and its affiliate, MZX Tech LLC.

On April 14, the NAACP and the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP filed a lawsuit against the aforementioned companies in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. The lawsuit comes after a 60-day notice to sue filed by the NAACP on Feb. 13. (Both the lawsuit and the notice were filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center and Earthjustice on behalf of the NAACP and the Mississippi chapter of the NAACP.)

The lawsuit alleges xAI has violated the Clean Air Act by operating 27 turbines without a permit at its 2875 Stanton Road facility. The Stanton Road facility is located at the former Duke Energy site. MZX Tech LLC purchased the site and the surrounding 114 acres in July 2025.

The lawsuit also alleges that the 27 turbines could potentially emit more than 1,700 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides, which would make the xAI power plant the "largest industrial source of nitrogen oxides in the Greater Memphis area."

xAI could not immediately be reached for comment.

"...Between August and December 2025, Defendants xAI and its wholly owned subsidiary MZX Tech LLC ... installed and began operating twenty-seven polluting gas turbines ... in Southaven, Mississippi, which is in DeSoto County, without an air permit or regard for the health and safety of people living nearby," the lawsuit states.

In August 2025, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality allowed the use of 16 unpermitted turbines at the Southaven site. That figure increased to 27 in December 2025, according to email correspondence between Arkansas-based Trinity Consultants and MDEQ representatives.

In January, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) updated its Clean Air Act regulation. The updated Federal Register outlines that all stationary and combustion turbines require permits, including temporary ones.

On March 10, MDEQ approved a Prevention of Significant Deterioration (or PSD) permit for 41 turbines at xAI's Stanton Road power plant. That permit does not include the aforementioned 27 turbines. On April 9, NAACP, along with environmental advocacy groups Young, Gifted & Green and the Safe and Sound Coalition, filed an appeal with the MDEQ permit board regarding the PSD permit approval.

Neil Strebig is a journalist with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at [email protected], 901-426-0679.