<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/13/elon-musk-xai-datacenters-air-pollution-mississippi>
"Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company is continuing to fuel its
datacenters with unpermitted gas turbines, an investigation by the
Floodlight
newsroom shows. Thermal footage captured by
Floodlight via drone shows xAI is
still burning gas at a facility in Southaven, Mississippi, despite a recent
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruling reiterating that doing so requires
a state permit in advance.
State regulators in Mississippi maintain that since the turbines are parked on
tractor trailers, they don’t require permits. However, the EPA has long
maintained that such pollution sources require permits under the
Clean Air
Act.
Any exemption for these machines “could leave these engines subject to no
emission standards at all”, the agency wrote in a January final ruling.
However, thermal images captured by
Floodlight – and analyzed by multiple
experts – show more than a dozen unpermitted turbines still spewing pollutants
at the plant nearly two weeks after the EPA’s recent ruling.
“That is a violation of the law,” said Bruce Buckheit, a former EPA air
enforcement chief, after reviewing Floodlight’s images and EPA regulations.
“You’re supposed to get permission first.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
