DOJ intervenes to back Elon Musk in datacenter pollution lawsuit
techJun 17, 202653123
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion asking a federal judge to dismiss an NAACP lawsuit targeting Elon Musk’s xAI datacenter in north Mississippi. The complaint says xAI’s Colossus II facility in Southaven is running gas-powered turbines that emit methane and other pollutants without required permits, harming nearby residential neighborhoods. The DOJ argued the turbines are integral to national security and to U.S. military operations, including activities tied to the conflict with Iran, and therefore federal interests preempt the citizen enforcement claim. If the judge accepts the DOJ’s position, it could set a precedent allowing national-security claims to block citizen environmental suits against private facilities nationwide.
