The Shelby County Health Department’s (SCHD) decision as to whether or not they will grant air permits for xAI’s gas turbines could take weeks, officials said.
During Wednesday’s Shelby County Board of Commissioners meeting, Kasia Smith-Alexander, deputy director of SCHD, said that as the public comment period closes, the agency’s next step is to respond to the comment.
“To give you a timeline on when or if a decision will be made on that permit — probably weeks out, I don’t want to put a date on it,” Smith-Alexander said.
She noted that on Friday the health department held a public hearing regarding the permits, and since then they had received about 300 additional comments.
Officials said the permit is only for 15 permanent turbines, and not 35, which the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) brought attention to in a letter to Michelle Taylor, director and health officer for the Shelby County Health Department.
At the commission’s hospitals and health committee meeting, Commissioner Erika Sugarmon sponsored a resolution that asks for an update from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Memphis Light, Gas, and Water (MLGW) regarding the “remaining steps and time necessary to connect xAI to the local utility grid.”
The resolution requests that this update be given by June 1
Smith-Alexander said the permanent turbines are supposed to go on the grid “at some point in time.”
The commissioner said her original intent was to have a six-month moratorium for the operation of the turbines, but was informed this would be a request and not a requirement of the health department.
Megan Smith, a staff member of the county attorney’s office, said there is no legal definition of moratorium “in this process as defined by law.”
“This body only has authority that is granted to it by law,” Smith said. “There is no authority to issue a moratorium on this process.”
Sugarmon went on record and requested that the public comment period be extended as TVA, MLGW, and the Chamber of Commerce have not come before the commission to provide updates on the grid. She also asked for a list of people who signed NDAs
While elected officials are working to stop the turbines, this has not stopped the public from asking the health department to deny the permits.
“We call on Shelby County Health Director Dr. Michelle Taylor and Mayor Lee Harris to deny the permit and shut the xAI plant down,” Rep. Justin J. Pearson said before a “Deny the Permit Rally” held Wednesday. “xAI is poisoning our air, and we are organizing to stop it. We want less pollution, not more. Our health is not for sale.”
Orion Overstreet, a University of Memphis student organizer, said they are watching and researching and promised to keep showing up on the issue.
“The young folks in the city are coming together around this issue,” Overstreet said. “We have all eyes on this right now.”