Memphis Community Against Pollution (MCAP)

Background and Activities

Memphis Community Against Pollution began its activity in 2021 by opposing a proposed 49-mile underground oil pipeline connecting a refinery in Memphis to an existing pipeline in Mississippi. The Byhalia Connection pipeline was accused by MCAP of “environmental racism” due to its proposed route along the Memphis aquifer near Boxtown, a predominantly African-American community. The group was initially known as Memphis Community Against the Pipeline and changed its name to Memphis Community Against Pollution to continue activity against other industries and facilities after the pipeline campaign. ^{5 6}

Among the founders of MCAP is Justin Pearson, a Democratic Tennessee State Representative most notable for being briefly expelled from office in 2023 after leading a protest on the House floor in support of gun control policies. The protest involved thousands of protesters flooding the Tennessee Capitol Building while Pearson and two other Democratic House members “approached the front of the House chamber with a bullhorn, and joined the protesters’ chants and cries for action.” Pearson was later reappointed to his seat by local officials and won reelection to the seat in 2024. ⁷

Speaking on behalf of MCAP in 2021, before his election to the state legislature, Pearson invoked heated racial rhetoric in opposition to industrial facilities in the area, stating, ““They’re trying to lynch us in a different way—one that can just as much take our breath away.” ⁷

A protest organized by the group against the Byhalia pipeline in 2021 featured former Vice President Al Gore and activist William Barber, and received positive coverage from the far-left Southern Environmental Law Center. ⁷

MCAP, along with the Southern Environmental Law Center, also supported the closure of the Sterilization Services of Tennessee, a company that sterilized medical equipment with ethylene oxide, which had been under investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency and was subject to a class action lawsuit. ⁸

Opposition to xAI Facility

Most of Memphis Community Against Pollution’s activity since 2024 has focused on leading opposition to an xAI supercomputer facility in Memphis opened by Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) to provide processing capabilities for X’s Grok Artificial Intelligence. ^{9 10}

The facility was described by Musk as the “most powerful AI training cluster in the world” and has been criticized by MCAP for its use of natural gas power and treated city wastewater for cooling. ¹¹

In 2024, MCAP along with the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), asked the Shelby County Health Department to investigate the xAI facility for its use of natural gas turbines, with MCAP president KeShaun Pearson stating “What are the ramifications of the air pollution that has been exposed into our air and what is to come if they are to continue to use these generators for another 300 plus days?,” and Amanda Garcia, a senior attorney with the SELC, stating “We know southwest Memphis has high rates of asthma, we know they have high rates of cancer and a shortened life expectancy so ozone pollution is really a public health issue that needs to be addressed by the health department.” ¹²