For four generations, Krystal Polk’s family lived off a 2-acre plot in Southaven, Mississippi, raising chickens and pigs and growing their own food on land her family acquired “before people of color were allowed to have land.”
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A year ago, a power plant went up across the street, CBS News reported, and the noise drove the family away from land that had been passed down through four generations.
“We lived a very simplistic life,” Polk told CBS News.
The plant powers data centers run by Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI, formerly known as xAI, in the Memphis area. It has sparked backlash from Southaven residents over noise and air pollution, with a resident-led petition to shut it down drawing more than 1,400 signatures.
“It’s like you’re in the middle of the airport where the planes are taking off, but they never take off,” Polk said, describing a “constant roaring” she says rings in her ears even after leaving.
SpaceXAI said in a July press release that it is investing millions in sound walls and “advanced quieting technologies,” but residents say the one wall installed so far has done little to help.
Since 2024, Musk has expanded his footprint in the region with the Colossus 1 data center and, as of this July, a newly confirmed facility called “Minihard,” part of an investment Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves says will exceed $20 billion.
The NAACP and other groups sued xAI and its subsidiary MZX Tech in April, alleging the plant “emits significant amounts of harmful pollutants.”
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SpaceXAI has moved to dismiss the case, and the Justice Department has intervened on the company’s side, arguing the litigation could hinder “the War Department’s use of AI for national defense.”
An independent study by EmPower Analytics Group found that a plan to install dozens of gas turbines at the site would worsen regional air pollution concentrated in disproportionately Black communities. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality said it doesn’t comment on pending litigation but that the facility was required to demonstrate compliance with air quality standards during permitting.
Polk, who has asthma along with other family members, said she fears becoming one of the “casualties” if health warnings about the plant prove true.
She has also accused real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield of pressuring her to sell the property on behalf of an unnamed client, filing a Better Business Bureau complaint after what she described as repeated, unwanted contact, but the firm denied using “harassment, pressure tactics, or inappropriate conduct.”
Selling remains complicated because keeping the land was her father’s dying wish.
“I’m not sure if you could offer a value,” Polk said, even as her plans to retire there and pass it to her children remain on hold.
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