Krystal Polk’s family has owned a two-acre property in Southaven, Mississippi, for four generations. The land, near the Tennessee border, supported chickens, pigs, vegetables and fruit, and served as a gathering place for holidays, a wedding rehearsal dinner and family celebrations. Polk had hoped to return there after retirement and eventually pass it to her children.
Those plans changed after a power plant began operating across the street to supply SpaceXAI data centers in the Memphis area. Polk said the plant’s continuous noise drove her family away from the property, which now sits mostly empty. She also said relatives with asthma are worried about fumes from the plant’s gas turbines.
The facility has become a focus of opposition from Southaven residents concerned about noise and air pollution. A petition organized by the resident-run Safe and Sound Coalition has more than 1,400 signatures. An EmPower Analytics Group study commissioned by the Southern Environmental Law Center found that replacing 69 temporary turbines with 41 permanent ones would increase local air pollution and concentrate it in communities that are disproportionately Black.
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality said the company must show during permitting that the proposed facility will not violate air-quality standards. The department also said its environmental responsibilities include enforcing applicable state and federal laws. Under an agreement with the department, the temporary turbines are to be removed and replaced over one year.
The data-center projects are expected to represent more than $20 billion in investment in Southaven. Two additional centers were announced by January 2026, and Musk confirmed another, called “Minihard, ” in July. The expansion has been presented by Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves as a source of long-term opportunity, while Polk said the uncertainty has made it difficult for her family to decide what to do with its property.
A real estate firm contacted Polk repeatedly about a possible acquisition on behalf of an unidentified client. After she declined several times, Polk filed a Better Business Bureau complaint alleging pressure and manipulation. Cushman & Wakefield Commercial Advisors said it was considering the property for a client and denied harassment or inappropriate conduct. Polk said the firm stopped contacting her afterward and that the offer was not worth accepting. Selling remains difficult because she said her father’s dying wish was that the family keep the land as long as reasonably possible.