Environmental lawsuits pose obstacles to the AI data center construction boom

Environmental lawsuits against AI data centers are becoming a means to hinder project progress. In May, a county court in Minnesota approved a temporary restraining order suspending construction and pre-construction activities at a data center project in Pine Island spanning over 100 acres intended for Google, pending MCEA's request for further review of the adequacy of the environmental review. That same month, the NAACP sought a preliminary injunction against xAI's Colossus data center, alleging that its unpermitted gas turbines emit nitrogen oxides into historically Black communities in the greater Memphis area, violating the Clean Air Act; xAI argued that these turbines mounted on truck flatbeds are exempt as temporary mobile sources. The U.S. government filed a notice on May 13 indicating it may intervene in the case. The relevant hearing is scheduled for August.