The records · Shelby County and EPA
Every record behind the essay on Shelby County, EPA and the answer that never went out
These are the records the essay is built on. Most of them come from EPA's own xAI file, which EPA released to me in September of 2026 in answer to my records request 2026-EPA-06630. The rest are from EPA's public reading room and the federal court file in the NAACP's lawsuit. Read them yourself. If I got something wrong, these are the pages that will show it.
The pages that matter, marked up
Each one outlines the passage the essay relies on, in red, on the page it actually sits on. Tap to open the full image.
The county asks EPA
Summer of 2024.
The county asks EPA to put the 364-day rule in writing
Dr. Michelle Taylor, then the county's Director-Health Officer, writes to EPA Region 4's air director. She says the rule that temporary turbines need a local permit only after 364 days in one place came from "guidance provided by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 staff," and asks EPA for a statement saying so, which she writes "would be advantageous to all parties concerned." Two pages, taken from the file EPA released to me.
The county sends the environmental groups' letter to EPA
The first page is Dr. Taylor's second letter to EPA, dated August 30th, 2024. It repeats the 364-day wording, encloses the letter the Southern Environmental Law Center sent the county four days earlier for a group of local organizations, and asks that it "be given careful attention and a response." The six pages after it are that letter, which argues that at least the four biggest turbines needed permits right away and points the county to its own 2021 order against Planter's Gin. These pages are in EPA's public reading room, package 2025-EPA-04540. One signer's personal email address is blacked out by me. Organization and government addresses are left in.
The county's own shutdown order, three years earlier
A Public Health Order telling Planter's Gin Company, on West Mallory Avenue in 38109, to immediately cease all operations for operating an air contaminant source without a permit. Signed by the county's Health Officer, with Wasim Khokhar named as the contact. The environmental groups attached it to their August 2024 letter as Attachment F. Planter's Gin had held permits and let them expire, which is a different case from xAI's. Three pages, from the same EPA reading room package.
EPA answers with a question
Fall of 2024.
EPA opens a formal review and promises a formal letter
EPA's answer to the county. It does not give the statement the county asked for. It says the county's letters "trigger a formal review process" called a Regulatory Interpretation, that the conclusions "will be detailed in a formal response letter," and that EPA needs more specific information about the generator units at the site. This copy is from the federal court file, where it was filed as an exhibit.
EPA asks for the generator list, and the county says it will try
An EPA engineer, Jacob Carpenter, asks the county's Wasim Khokhar for a list of every generator on the site, to "confirm exactly what generator units are operating at the facility." Khokhar answers on November 12th, "We will work with the company to get this information for you," and on November 13th, "I will try to get this information." No email sending the list appears in the file EPA released to me so far. EPA expects to finish releasing its file by March 1st, 2027. Six pages from that file.
The answer EPA drafted
Winter and spring of 2025.
Comment alerts on a draft called "Response - Regulatory Interpretation xAI"
These are the automatic alerts EPA staff got when colleagues commented on a shared document. They show the draft under three file names, one of them ending "(OGC feedback and review)." OGC is EPA's Office of General Counsel. The last alert went out on March 7th, 2025. The times printed on these pages are in world standard time (UTC), so the 10:32 PM stamp on it is 4:32 PM in Memphis. The draft itself is not in what EPA released to me, so what it said is not known. Eleven pages from EPA's file.
What the county told the public, and what EPA told SELC
2025.
The county's evaluation of xAI's application for the 15 permanent turbines
The Health Department's permit application evaluation for permit 01156-01PC, the copy EPA holds in its public reading room (package 2025-EPA-04869). Section II records that the application is dated September 3rd, 2024, that the county received it on January 3rd, 2025, and that it was found complete on February 18th, 2025. Correction, October 15th: that September date appears only in this March 2025 draft. The county's public version of the evaluation and the permit it issued on July 2nd, 2025 (page 2) both say the application is dated January 3rd, 2025. This is the permit for the permanent turbines with pollution controls, not the temporary ones. One consultant's mobile phone number is blacked out by me. Company and government contacts are left in.
The county answers the public comments on xAI's permit
The county's written answer to the Southern Environmental Law Center's comments on the Colossus 1 permit, signed by Wasim Khokhar. It says EPA "is aware of and has not objected to" the county's determination that the temporary turbines are not subject to stationary source permitting. It says "CTC projects these units will be removed by the end of July 2025," and that if they stay more than 12 months they "could become stationary sources subject to air permitting." From the federal court file.
SELC asks EPA for the Regulatory Interpretation
EPA's public records log for the quarter lists the Southern Environmental Law Center's request 2025-EPA-07663, asking for any document related to EPA's November 1st, 2024 letter, including any "Regulatory Interpretation" or "formal response letter." EPA's Region 4 records office told me in writing on September 11th, 2026 that it closed that request on August 13th, 2025 as a "No records Response."
Where it ended up
xAI says the temporary turbines are gone
In a statement answering the environmental groups' appeal of the permit, xAI's spokesperson said "all of the temporary turbines at Electrolux have already been decommissioned." That is the company's statement, as Action News 5 reported it.
xAI's lawyers point to EPA's silence
The companies' brief opposing the NAACP's request to stop the Southaven turbines. It quotes the county's "has not objected" line and leans on "the EPA's apparent acquiescence." Footnote 12, on page 25, says EPA's promised review never finished: "no such Interpretation has issued."
The Colossus 1 construction permit
The county's permit for the 15 permanent turbines at Colossus 1. Its own face says it expires January 2nd, 2027.
Back to the essay · the case board
Think I got something wrong? Check the records, then tell me. That's the whole point.