The city of Memphis’ study of air quality had a key error in design, an expert told MLK50: Justice Through Journalism: It didn’t consider the direction of wind.
That same defect was pointed out by environmental advocates on Wednesday when they blasted the city’s air quality test results, which showed “no dangerous levels” of pollutants in Boxtown, Whitehaven and Downtown Memphis.
Now, Memphis Community Against Pollution is partnering with The Center for Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health INpowering Communities to do their own air quality testing in Southwest Memphis, the neighborhood where Elon Musk built his first Colossus supercomputer.
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Last week, the city announced that it had commissioned third-party air quality testing, which took place on June 13 and June 16, examining pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde.
While the news release accompanying the testing results described the findings as “only a snapshot in time,” it also called the findings “definitive and reassuring.”
The city is not responsible for regulating air quality, but it commissioned third-party testing after facing significant criticism from environmental advocates who have opposed the usage of methane gas turbines at Musk’s xAI facility in Southwest Memphis. The testing was conducted and analyzed by Ensafe Inc. and SGS Galson.
“The winds were not coming from the direction that would have carried the emissions. The design was just flawed.”
Krystal Pollitt, associate professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health
The Shelby County Health Department has not conducted its own testing, although plans are underway for an air monitoring station in South Memphis after the department received a $411,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Also Wednesday, the Shelby County Health Department approved a permit for xAI’s 15 permanent methane gas turbines, which are expected to be used in a backup capacity. The permit puts requirements on emissions and requires that the facility “maintain at least five years of monitoring, preventive and maintenance records for air pollution control equipment.”
The Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce, the city of Memphis and xAI have said those turbines will utilize technology to lower emissions to well below EPA requirements. The temporary turbines currently at the facility do not have that technology, a chamber representative said in an interview last week.
City air monitoring didn’t account for wind direction
While the range of pollutants measured in the city’s tests was “excellent,” there was a significant design flaw, said Krystal Pollitt, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health who’s researched air pollution and environmental exposure.
“The winds were not coming from the direction that would have carried the emissions,” she said. It’s not a surprise that the tests didn’t detect pollutants, Pollitt said. “The design was just flawed.”
The report from the city says that winds were blowing in a south-southwest direction on the first day of testing and from the south on the second day. The wind would not have pushed any pollutants generated by the xAI site toward the monitor located at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, Pollitt said.
“…The conclusion they want the public to reach from these results is just simply misplaced.”
John Walke, senior attorney and clean air director for the Natural Resources Defense Council
“Setting it up for an extended period and understanding where the wind is coming from is also important,” Pollitt said. “Then we can start to triangulate on what sources might be based on elevated levels from different wind directions.”
Pollitt also criticized the study for only taking place over two days. Good studies should have monitors that are free from “any type of tree or building that is going to interfere with the natural airflow,” Pollitt said. The city’s study placed the monitor at Macedonia Baptist under the stairs at the side of the building.
Federal requirements for ozone testing look at an average taken over a three-year period, said John Walke, senior attorney and clean air director for the Natural Resources Defense Council. Based on those standards, Shelby County should be considered in non-attainment with EPA requirements, he said. Last month, the Southern Environmental Law Center asked the EPA to give Shelby County a “non-attainment” designation, which would force stricter standards regarding ozone pollution.
The city did not test for ozone, but did test for nitrogen dioxide, one of the precursors of ozone. Walke said that EPA monitors look at ozone itself, not nitrogen dioxide, “as a proxy for ozone.”
Walke agreed with Pollitt’s assessment that the wind would have prevented pollutants from the xAI facility from reaching the sensors.
“I’m not in a situation to say whether that was purposeful or accidental or coincidence, but of course you’re not going to find higher pollution concentrations if the wind is blowing in a different direction,” Walke said. “…The conclusion they want the public to reach from these results is just simply misplaced.”
The city of Memphis declined to comment on the direction of the wind on the two days during which results were gathered. A representative of Ensafe, which conducted the testing for the city, referred MLK50 to a media director, who did not answer the phone.
New monitoring will put data in hands of residents
MCAP will spend $250,000 to study the air quality of Southwest Memphis through “community-based research, scientific monitoring and creating a true air quality monitoring system dedicated to this community,” State Rep. Justin Pearson announced at Wednesday’s news conference.
Sacoby Wilson, founder of CEEJH INC., and Vivek Ravichandran, director of research and policy, said they will work with the community to identify locations for air monitoring sensors, which are 80-90% as accurate as those used by the EPA. They will be deployed for several months and offer “around-the-clock coverage.”
They will also measure wind speed and direction, allowing them to trace pollution “to the precise facility” that generated it, Ravichandran said.
“We are the ones that know that the pollution is bad. We live it every day.”
Sarah Gladney, resident
The sensors will monitor pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and fine particulates “that come from sources like gas turbines, factories, heavy traffic, all of these things which we know persist in South Memphis,” Ravichandran said.
MCAP is also partnering with the Shelby County Health Department to place sensors at Shelby Farms, allowing them to compare the air quality in South Memphis to a different part of the city.
Neither the city nor the county are contributing financially to the project to put air quality monitors on residents’ homes. Through the project, residents and activists are doing what the Shelby County Health Department has failed to do for years: establishing air monitoring in Southwest Memphis.
Residents of South Memphis will be trained to use, deploy and interpret data from the sensors, Ravichandran said.
“This isn’t just about us collecting numbers,” Pearson said. “It’s about putting science in the hands of people. Our own residents will be trained to install, read and use this data so the community can share its own story as we push for real solutions.”
Community member Sarah Gladney said residents doing the testing is a “win-win situation.”
“We are the people who live here 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” she said. “We are the ones that know that the pollution is bad. We live it every day. We smell it. So we know.”
Wednesday afternoon, the same day as MCAP’s news conference, the Shelby County Health Department issued a “Code Orange” forecast for Memphis. On Thursday, high levels of ozone are expected, levels “unhealthy for sensitive groups” such as active children and adults and those with respiratory diseases. Those groups should limit outdoor activities, the health department said.
Katherine Burgess is the government accountability reporter for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Contact her at katherine.burgess@mlk50.com
Wendi C. Thomas contributed to this story.
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