Memphis has had air-quality problems for years. The city consistently ranks on the annual “asthma capitals” list compiled by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America — including 2024’s report, which put it as the 15th “most challenging” place to live with asthma. Shelby County, where Memphis is located, earned an F from the American Lung Association’s most recent State of the Air report, and for the last two years, four out of the five air quality test sites in the city have shown ozone levels above the federal standard.
And all of this was before Colossus, the supercomputer that powers Elon Musk’s xAI chatbot Grok, came to town.
With the supercomputer — which has been running off of up to 35 unpermitted gas-powered generators – now likely the largest source of ozone emissions in the region, local environmental groups are increasingly concerned about runaway pollution.
“There really isn’t anything as egregious as what’s happening in Memphis with the ozone problem,” Southern Environmental Law Center senior attorney Caroline Cress told the local Fox station.
That’s why last week the SELC made a formal request to the Environmental Protection Agency to declare the greater Memphis area a “nonattainment” zone for ozone pollution, which would force local regulators to act.
The SELC petition was filed on June 5 and was done so on behalf of Memphis Community Against Pollution, Young Gifted and Green, and the Sierra Club. According to the filing, local public health officials have “demonstrated a complete lack of commitment to taking timely and meaningful action necessary to ensure that residents of the area are no longer exposed to unhealthy levels of ozone pollution.”
The NAACP Weighs In
A May 29 letter from the NAACP to Shelby County officials called for the shutdown of the Colossus facility, framing it as part of Memphis’s long-standing pollution crisis. The letter criticized the local health department for failing to address well-documented pollution-related health risks in the area — including cancer rates that are already four times the national average — and said officials are allowing xAI to operate above the law.
And it’s not just a Memphis problem. “Black communities bear the brunt of these issues due to centuries of disinvestment, siting of industrial pollution, and intentional decisions to sacrifice their health,” the NAACP wrote.
“It’s amazing when you grow up and realize how redlining has allowed these industries to kill your family,” KeShaun Pearson, head of Memphis Community Against Pollution, told Politico in May. “Elon Musk is a representation of the oligarchy we already knew was operating under Jim Crow. It’s a familiar evil.”
What’s in the Air?
The gas turbines used to power Colossus spew out three primary pollutants: nitrogen oxides, formaldehyde, and fine particulate matter. Nitrogen oxides are particularly concerning because they react with other pollutants in the air to form ground-level ozone, which is known to trigger and worsen respiratory conditions like asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD.
Memphis resident Alexis Humphreys recently told More Perfect Union how her grandfather, who was in and out of the hospital for breathing treatments, died last year from COPD. The progressive lung disease, which makes it harder to breathe over time, is often linked to cigarette smoking — but Humphreys said her grandfather never smoked.
Respiratory issues are endemic in the community, too. Humphreys has asthma and bronchitis, and both her mother and grandmother have bronchitis. “You can’t hardly breathe,” Humphreys said. “It’s like your whole world is collapsing down on you—and it’s frightening.”
A Push for Accountability
The federal standard for ozone pollution was lowered to 70 parts per billion (ppb) in 2015. In 2023, the greater Memphis area entered a voluntary EPA program designed to help bring down pollution called Ozone Advance. As part of that program, local agencies are required to draft a Path Forward document detailing the plans for reducing pollution levels. Not only does Memphis’s Path Forward plan remain incomplete, but the SELC petition says that the draft contains no mention of Colossus. And Ozone levels have continued to trend upward since Memphis joined the program.
“Redesignating the Memphis metro area as in nonattainment for smog would finally force our regulators to do their jobs: tighten industrial permits, reduce harmful emissions, and protect our health,” Rep. Justin Pearson, whose predominantly Black district the Colossus facility sits in, said in a statement. “Four out of five local monitors have recorded smog levels that exceed the federal safety standard. The fifth isn’t far behind.”
