University study shows XAi operations do not cause air pollution

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Are the gas turbines at the XAi site in southwest Memphis harmful to the air quality in that neighborhood?

It’s a question that has been asked since operations began in September of last year.

FOX13 Investigates took that answer to the University of Memphis, where the School of Public Health recently finished an air quality study.

“We got inquiries about the impact of XAi turbine emissions on local communities,” Dr. Chunrong Jia, professor of environmental health, told FOX13.

He said they began this study in February and it concluded in June. He said it began with air quality dispersion models.

“Based on the specifications of turbines, emission rates, meteorological conditions, winds, and also the topography of the region,” said Jia.

Colossus One is about a mile outside of the Boxtown neighborhood. It operates using gas turbines approved last month by the Shelby County Health Department.

Jia said they found air pollutants from those turbines were not harmful in either the short term or the long term.

“These concentrations, even with impact of XAi turbines emissions, the concentration of these are still below the national standards or the referenced concentrations,” said Jia.

He said pollutants like formaldehye and nitrogen dioxide fall below national standards. The only exception — PM2.5, or particulate matter 2.5.

Those are particles that come from sources like vehicle exhaust, factory emissions, or fossil fuels.

Jia said this wouldn’t come from XAi alone, but they concentrate because of all the industry concentrated in that area.

“You can still say that, I would say it’s still a major polluter, it’s an industrial polluter in comparison to other polluters, you probably would not find other major industrial polluters in that area,” Jia told FOX13.

These same gas turbines are now also at the XAi power plant in Southaven. A letter from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality showed they are allowing the company to operate portable turbines on the Stanton Road site for 12 months without a permit.