"A US regulator ruled on Thursday that Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company had acted illegally by using dozens of methane gas turbines to power massive data centers in Tennessee. xAI has been fighting for a year and a half over truck-sized gas turbines the company had parked near its Colossus 1 and 2 facilities, arguing to local authorities that the electricity-generating turbines were exempt from requirements for air quality permits."
"In its ruling, the agency revised the policies around gas turbines, saying that the operating the machines still requires air permits even if they are used on a portable or temporary basis, as had been the case. When xAI first installed the portable turbines at Colossus 1, it took advantage of a local county loophole allowing the operation of generators without permits so long as the machines did not sit in one place for more than 364 days."
"They say the data center, which sits a few miles from historically Black neighborhoods, has been adding extra pollution to already overburdened communities. Our communities, air, water, and land are not playgrounds for billionaires chasing another buck, said Abre' Conner, the director of environmental and climate justice for the NAACP, which initiated a lawsuit against xAI last July saying the"
The Environmental Protection Agency ruled that xAI used methane gas turbines illegally to power large data centers in Tennessee and revised turbine policy so portable or temporary machines require air permits. xAI had used truck-sized turbines at Colossus 1 and 2 and relied on a county loophole allowing generators to operate without permits if not stationary for more than 364 days. Up to 35 turbines powered Colossus 1; xAI later secured permits for 15 and now operates 12 permitted machines. The ruling places permitting under federal law, and enforcement actions remain unclear. Community activists and the NAACP have sued over pollution impacts on nearby historically Black neighborhoods.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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