A federal judge has denied the U.S. Department of Justice's attempt to dismiss the NAACP's Clean Air Act lawsuit against xAI, allowing the case over the gas turbines that power xAI's Colossus 2 data center to move forward. U.S. District Judge Debra Brown of the Northern District of Mississippi ruled that the DOJ cannot unilaterally block a citizen suit.
The ruling is procedural. It does not decide whether xAI violated the Clean Air Act, and the company has not been found liable for any violation. Coverage of the decision did not include a statement or court filing from xAI responding to it.
The NAACP filed the suit in April. It alleges that xAI operated dozens of methane gas turbines at its Southaven, Mississippi, plant before obtaining an air permit. The Southaven facility supplies power to Colossus 2 in South Memphis.
Key facts
- 01U.S. District Judge Debra Brown denied the DOJ's motion to dismiss the NAACP's Clean Air Act suit against xAI.
- 02The court held the DOJ cannot unilaterally block a citizen suit; the department remains in the case as an intervenor.
- 03The suit, filed in April, alleges xAI ran gas turbines at its Southaven, Mississippi plant before obtaining an air permit.
- 04Mississippi regulators permitted 27 gas-fired turbines in March 2026; the suit targets the period before that permit.
- 05The ruling is procedural: xAI has not been found liable for any violation.
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality issued an air permit in March 2026 covering 27 gas-fired turbines at the Southaven facility. The lawsuit focuses on the period before that permit was granted.
The DOJ had asked the court to end the case, writing in a letter that "dismissal of this civil enforcement action accords with federal policy, national security, and the public interest." The department argued that xAI's expansion is a national priority and said the federal government uses xAI's Grok chatbot in national security and military work.
Judge Brown found no "fairly possible" interpretation of the Clean Air Act that would let the federal government block the suit on its own, and said the DOJ's national security arguments did not address whether the government had the power to dismiss it. The DOJ remains in the case as an intervenor, though the court said what it can do after intervening "is another matter."
“The court made clear today that the law applies to everyone, including the federal government.”— Abre' Conner, NAACP Director of Environmental and Climate Justice
The decision follows an earlier order from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which denied the DOJ's request to pause the district court proceedings because the lower court had not yet ruled on the issue.
In their announcement of the ruling, the NAACP, the Southern Environmental Law Center and Earthjustice said the plant can emit more than 5,000 tons of nitrogen oxides, more than 400 tons of fine particulate matter and more than 47 tons of formaldehyde per year. Those figures are the plaintiffs' allegations.
No hearing dates have been announced. The case now continues in the Northern District of Mississippi, with the federal government participating as an intervenor.
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