The records · who spoke for Memphis on Mississippi's permit
Every record behind "Why didn't Memphis's government speak up?"
These are the records the essay Why didn't Memphis's government speak up on xAI's Mississippi plant? is built on, hosted here so you can read them yourself. Most come from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), the state agency that issued the air permit for xAI's gas plant in Southaven, Mississippi, just over the state line from Memphis. The marked-up pages at the top show where each fact lives. The full files are underneath.
The pages that matter, marked up
Each one outlines the passage the essay quotes, with a caption saying what it says and where it is.
The full records
MZX Tech's modeling plan, final version, November 5th, 2025
The plan for how the Southaven plant's pollution would be modeled, written by the company's consultant, Trinity Consultants, and sent to MDEQ. MZX Tech is the xAI company that holds the permit. The plan's first section says the plant "will provide electricity to its data center located in Shelby County, Tennessee." Here: the consultant's cover email and the first five pages. The whole 33-page plan is on the public archive.
Cover email and section 1 (PDF)The full plan, on the archive
"Air Quality, Health, and Economic Impacts of the Proposed MZX Tech Facility," February 13th, 2026
The one health study of this plant in the permit record, done by EmPower Analytics Group for the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), the nonprofit legal group that filed comments against the permit. It models the most the plant is allowed to put out, so it's an estimate, not a measurement. The 63.8% figure is on pages 2 and 19. The full 83-page report.
MDEQ's answers to the public comments on permit 0680-00119, March 2026
MDEQ's own 30-page answer to the comments on the permit. Page 3 is its answer to the health study. Page 7 has the 0.797 ozone figure. Pages 12 to 14 are the ozone comments, MDEQ's "MZX Tech is in Mississippi" answer, and its note that the Memphis area's ozone is "near or above" the federal limit. The full packet, with every comment and the hearing transcript, runs 1,599 pages and is on the public archive.
MDEQ's 30-page response (PDF)The full 1,599-page packet, on the archive
Two comments sent through MDEQ's website, February 17th, 2026
Sent through the contact form on MDEQ's website at 5:30 PM and 5:38 PM, before the Southaven hearing began. The first says "We share the air." From MDEQ's comment packet, pages 1166 and 1267.
The certified transcript of MDEQ's public hearing in Southaven, February 17th, 2026
The court reporter's transcript of the hearing at the Ranger Conference Center in Southaven, Appendix E of MDEQ's comment packet. 147 pages.
MDEQ's email to Shelby County, Tennessee and Arkansas, January 16th, 2026
Sent by MDEQ's air division chief, Jaricus Whitlock, at 6:09 PM on Friday, January 16th, the day the comment period opened, to one address at Shelby County, one in Tennessee state government and one in Arkansas. The body says the hearing notice is attached. The list of attachments shows the draft permit twice and no hearing notice. That doesn't show whether the notice reached them.
Arkansas's letter to the Shelby County Health Department, April 30th, 2025
Arkansas's comments on Shelby County's draft air permit for xAI's turbines at Colossus 1 (permit 01156-01PC, for xAI's company CTC Property LLC), signed by Secretary Shane Khoury. Arkansas says Crittenden County sits in the same ozone area as Memphis, calls itself "a stakeholder," and asks the county to "consider the more stringent evaluation standard." Four pages.
The March 10th, 2026 meeting that approved the permit, and the August 11th, 2026 meeting that set the hearing
The March minutes record the vote that approved the permit and MDEQ's count of 199 people and groups who wrote in against it. The August minutes move the hearing on the challenge to November 9th, 2026, continuing November 10th if needed. Both are on MDEQ's website.
What I asked Shelby County and Tennessee on October 19th, 2026
I asked Shelby County, for its Health Department, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) what they did with MDEQ's January 16th email. Each request asks for three things, from January 16th through March 31st, 2026:
- That email, as their staff member received it, with its attachments.
- Any email forwarding it or replying to it.
- Any comment, letter or email their staff member sent to MDEQ that mentions "MZX" or "0680-00119".
As of October 25th, 2026, neither one has sent records. Shelby County's form is below, with my address, phone and signature blacked out. The Tennessee request went by email.
The court filings, the law, the ozone data and the earlier essays
xAI's sworn statement, Jacobson declaration, June 15th, 2026, NAACP v. X.AI
The second sworn statement, Trettel declaration, June 15th, 2026
North Carolina v. TVA, the federal appeals court ruling, July 26th, 2010
Clean Air Act section 126
EPA's daily ozone monitor data
The October 1st essay on the hearing and its records
The September 16th essay on the University of Memphis study
Think I got something wrong? Check the records, then tell me. That's the whole point.