Musk's data centers push out family that's owned land for generations
Lauren Fichten
Mon, October 5, 2026
CBS NEWS
On a 2-acre property in Mississippi, 52-year-old Krystal Polk's family lived off the land for generations, raising chickens and pigs, growing onions and herbs and trading their peaches for pears.
The land, on the border with Tennessee in the city of Southaven, was her family's survival, Polk said. "We lived a very simplistic life," she told CBS News.
While life there may have been simple in Polk's view, the circumstances surrounding her home rarely ever were. Her family acquired the property "before people of color were allowed to have land," she said, and it's been passed down for four generations. When Polk's parents first moved in, they discovered "KKK" scrawled at the bottom of the hill of their property, she said.
Holding on to the land was made more difficult a year ago when a noisy neighbor appeared across the street — a power plant so loud, it drove the family away. Since then, the land has sat mostly empty, occupied only by an unrelenting hum.
The plant, which is powering Elon Musk's SpaceXAI data centers in the Memphis area, has sparked backlash from Southaven residents concerned about noise and air pollution. A petition by the resident-run Safe and Sound Coalition calling to shut down the power plant has over 1,400 signatures.
Polk said she remembers when she could hear the birds chirping at her family home. Now, she said the plant's "constant roaring" lingers in her ears even after she leaves.
"It's like you're in the middle of the airport where the planes are taking off, but they never take off," she said.
SpaceXAI, formerly known as xAI, recently said in a July press release that it is investing millions of dollars in sound walls and silencers with "advanced quieting technologies" around the plant. Southaven residents have told CBS News that one sound wall installed so far has provided little reprieve from the noise.
On a 2-acre property in Mississippi, 52-year-old Krystal Polk's family lived off the land for generations, raising chickens and pigs, growing onions and herbs and trading their peaches for pears.
The land, on the border with Tennessee in the city of Southaven, was her family's survival, Polk said. "We lived a very simplistic life," she told CBS News.
While life there may have been simple in Polk's view, the circumstances surrounding her home rarely ever were. Her family acquired the property "before people of color were allowed to have land," she said, and it's been passed down for four generations. When Polk's parents first moved in, they discovered "KKK" scrawled at the bottom of the hill of their property, she said.
Holding on to the land was made more difficult a year ago when a noisy neighbor appeared across the street — a power plant so loud, it drove the family away. Since then, the land has sat mostly empty, occupied only by an unrelenting hum.
The plant, which is powering Elon Musk's SpaceXAI data centers in the Memphis area, has sparked backlash from Southaven residents concerned about noise and air pollution. A petition by the resident-run Safe and Sound Coalition calling to shut down the power plant has over 1,400 signatures.
Polk said she remembers when she could hear the birds chirping at her family home. Now, she said the plant's "constant roaring" lingers in her ears even after she leaves.
"It's like you're in the middle of the airport where the planes are taking off, but they never take off," she said.
SpaceXAI, formerly known as xAI, recently said in a July press release that it is investing millions of dollars in sound walls and silencers with "advanced quieting technologies" around the plant. Southaven residents have told CBS News that one sound wall installed so far has provided little reprieve from the noise.
Krystal Polk and her cousin on the family property in Southaven, Mississippi, in an undated photo. / Credit: Krystal Polk
"We gathered there"
Over the course of two years, Musk has expanded his footprint in the Memphis region starting with the construction of his Colossus 1 data center just north of Southaven in 2024. By January 2026, two more data centers were announced. This July, Musk quietly confirmed the construction of another local data center, "Minihard," in a reply to a post on his platform X.
Musk's SpaceXAI projects will total more than $20 billion in investments to Southaven, which Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a press release will "bring amazing opportunities to its residents for generations."
But for Polk, the development has meant a new kind of strain on her family.
"We don't know the future," she said. "So we're not sure what to invest into it."
Polk moved away from the family home after getting married, and for years, it bounced between relatives. It was where Polk churned her own ice cream as a child, held her rehearsal dinner when she got married and hosted the holidays each year.
"We gathered there and we thanked God for what we had," she said. "It was always a celebration."
Krystal Polk and her cousins when they were children at the family's home in Southaven, Mississippi. / Credit: Krystal Polk
She planned to return as a retiree and eventually pass the property down to her children. But now, those plans have been put on hold. Apart from the "24/7" noise, Polk said she and her family have asthma and are concerned about fumes from the gas turbines at the plant.
"I'm afraid that we will be the ones that everyone looks back on and says, 'Hey, remember they tried to tell us that these things were hazardous to our health and causing harm,'" Polk said. "I'm afraid that we're going to be those casualties."
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and other groups sued xAI and its subsidiary MZX Tech in April, alleging that the plant "emits significant amounts of harmful pollutants."
In June, SpaceXAI filed a motion to dismiss the case, and the Department of Justice also moved to intervene and dismiss the case. The Justice Department said in a statement that the matter "concerns national security and Mississippi's lawful action regarding permitting" and that the NAACP's lawsuit "could hinder the War Department's use of AI for national defense."
CBS News reached out to SpaceXAI multiple times for comment and has not heard back.
The company has entered into an agreement with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality that includes removing the 69 temporary turbines at the plant and replacing them with 41 permanent turbines over the course of a year.
But a study conducted by EmPower Analytics Group found that the plan to install dozens of gas turbines would increase air pollution in the area and would be concentrated in communities that are disproportionately Black. The study was commissioned by the Southern Environmental Law Center, which is co-counsel for the plaintiffs in the NAACP's lawsuit against xAI and MZX Tech.
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality said in a statement that it doesn't comment on "third-party reports or matters involved in pending litigation" and that it "remains committed to carrying out its responsibility to protect public health and the environment through implementation and enforcement of applicable state and federal environmental laws and regulations."
MDEQ said that as part of the permitting process, MZX Tech was required to demonstrate that the proposed facility would not violate air quality standards.
The plant in Southaven, Mississippi, powers data centers in the region. / Credit: Lauren Fichten
Still, residents are not convinced. Shannon Samsa, a 27-year-old physician assistant living in Southaven, is concerned about the plant's impact on her community's health. She's become an outspoken advocate against the plant, speaking up at city meetings and leading the Safe and Sound Coalition as its director.
"It's not just my neighbors, it's not just my family and friends, it's my future patients," she said. "It's also a huge healthcare issue."
Priceless property
As SpaceXAI extends its reach in the region, the future of Polk's property hangs in the balance. Some companies have expressed interest in purchasing it.
Polk said she was approached by real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield Commercial Advisors with an offer. After multiple "nos" over the course of weeks, she said she eventually filed a Better Business Bureau complaint, accusing the company of harassment and manipulation.
In the complaint, reviewed by CBS News, Polk alleged the firm tried to coerce her into agreeing to services.
Cushman & Wakefield Commercial Advisors, in response to the complaint, said it was exploring the potential acquisition of Polk's land on behalf of a client, who was not identified. The firm confirmed it made multiple attempts to contact Polk "by phone, text and written correspondence," but denied engaging in "harassment, pressure tactics, or inappropriate conduct."
Polk said the company has not reached out since she filed the complaint. She declined to disclose the firm's offer, but said that "it was not worth anything."
Selling the land is complicated — keeping it was her father's dying wish, Polk said.
"He asked me to please keep it as much as I could within reason," she said. "I'm not sure if you could offer a value."
Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify the name of the real estate firm. It has also been updated with additional background on the study commissioned by the Southern Environmental Law Center.
A Texas Woman Is Fighting to Stop a Data Center From Replacing a Promised Park
C. da Costa
Mon, October 5, 2026
Image: Joel Angel Juarez via CNN
Key takeaways
Central Texas land originally sold for $10 in 1999 with a promise to become public parkland, now sold for $10 million to a data-center developer, sparking a legal battle over the enforceability of the original deed language.
Eighty-seven acres of Central Texas land changed hands in 1999 for $10, with written language stating it would become public parkland. In April 2025, that same land sold for $10 million to a data-center developer. Whether the original deed language carries any continuing legal force is now the central question before a Texas appeals court and the state's attorney general.
The 1999 transfer conveyed the property from the Bland family to the Texas Parks and Recreation Foundation, with language stating the land was "to be held in trust for future use as parkland." That language was absent from every subsequent deed. The City of Taylor says no legally enforceable restriction attached to the property, while Pamela Griffin filed suit arguing that the restriction remains enforceable.
A Promise in the Deed
The property passed through public and nonprofit hands for more than two decades before landing with a data-center developer.
According to the Texas Attorney General's office, the land moved from the Texas Parks and Recreation Foundation to a Williamson County parks nonprofit in 2003. Shortly after, it transferred to the City of Taylor. In 2009, the city transferred it to the Taylor Economic Development Corporation for $15,000 and 39 acres.
The economic development corporation sold the remaining parcel to NCP Travis TPP Project LLC, the entity associated with Blueprint Data Centers, for $10 million in April 2025. Griffin's opposition extends beyond the legal question. Her grandmother, Addie Collins, bought property on Taylor's south side after the Fair Housing Act prohibited housing discrimination, acquiring parcels for all eight of her children to build multigenerational economic security, according to CNN reporting.
Fannie Robinson Park, the first park serving Black residents in Taylor, had previously been a city dump and was associated with illness and rashes among neighborhood children, residents have said. The vacant lot near Griffin's family home served as an informal playground for generations, according to CNN. "My daddy passed this land down to us and he told us to guard this land," Griffin told CNN.
What Gets Built There
Blueprint Projects has received development approval for a three-building data center complex planned in phases on approximately 52 acres.
Blueprint Projects has approval for three data-center buildings totaling roughly 135,000 square feet, built in three 45,000-square-foot phases with an on-site electricity substation, according to Data Center Dynamics. The facility would sit roughly 500 feet from a neighborhood of predominantly Black and Hispanic families, per CNN reporting. Data centers concentrate servers, cooling systems and electrical infrastructure in large facilities, and nearby residents have raised concerns about equipment noise, backup generator emissions, light pollution and heavy electricity demand.
Residents including Griffin and Carrie D'Anna have argued that the neighborhood needed a grocery store or gas station more than a data center. City officials counter that the project could generate millions in tax revenue over 10 years, potentially supporting schools, teacher salaries and property-tax reductions. They also say the facility would use a closed-loop cooling system that would not create large water demands on the city.
Standing, Appeals, and the Attorney General
A standing dispute has moved the case to a Texas appeals court, while the attorney general opened a parallel investigation.
A Williamson County state district judge dismissed Griffin's lawsuit in October 2025, ruling that she and her relatives lacked legal standing because they neither owned the disputed land nor held a direct financial interest in it. Griffin's attorney, Chris Osborn, has maintained that the dismissal resolved only the standing question, leaving the enforceability of the original parkland restriction untouched. The case is now before a Texas appeals court.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a separate investigation into whether the 1999 trust and park-use restriction were lawfully modified or terminated during the property's chain of transfers. "I will not allow any person or entity to disregard the rule of law or obligations owed to the public," Paxton said in the announcement. The AG's office has indicated it may seek court intervention if the land is found subject to a charitable trust or enforceable restriction, while the City of Taylor said it would cooperate but declined further comment due to ongoing litigation.
Taylor's dispute is unfolding alongside broader growth pressures. Samsung already operates a semiconductor fabrication plant on the city's north side, and a separate 665-acre proposal called Project Mustang sits outside city limits, where much of the city's regulatory authority does not reach. City officials say they are considering new rules covering noise, setbacks, emissions and water use for data centers in industrially zoned areas. The outcome of both the appeal and the AG investigation could determine whether the parkland language survives, and what written public commitments are legally worth in Texas.
C. da Costa
Mon, October 5, 2026
Image: Joel Angel Juarez via CNN
Key takeaways
Central Texas land originally sold for $10 in 1999 with a promise to become public parkland, now sold for $10 million to a data-center developer, sparking a legal battle over the enforceability of the original deed language.
Eighty-seven acres of Central Texas land changed hands in 1999 for $10, with written language stating it would become public parkland. In April 2025, that same land sold for $10 million to a data-center developer. Whether the original deed language carries any continuing legal force is now the central question before a Texas appeals court and the state's attorney general.
The 1999 transfer conveyed the property from the Bland family to the Texas Parks and Recreation Foundation, with language stating the land was "to be held in trust for future use as parkland." That language was absent from every subsequent deed. The City of Taylor says no legally enforceable restriction attached to the property, while Pamela Griffin filed suit arguing that the restriction remains enforceable.
A Promise in the Deed
The property passed through public and nonprofit hands for more than two decades before landing with a data-center developer.
According to the Texas Attorney General's office, the land moved from the Texas Parks and Recreation Foundation to a Williamson County parks nonprofit in 2003. Shortly after, it transferred to the City of Taylor. In 2009, the city transferred it to the Taylor Economic Development Corporation for $15,000 and 39 acres.
The economic development corporation sold the remaining parcel to NCP Travis TPP Project LLC, the entity associated with Blueprint Data Centers, for $10 million in April 2025. Griffin's opposition extends beyond the legal question. Her grandmother, Addie Collins, bought property on Taylor's south side after the Fair Housing Act prohibited housing discrimination, acquiring parcels for all eight of her children to build multigenerational economic security, according to CNN reporting.
Fannie Robinson Park, the first park serving Black residents in Taylor, had previously been a city dump and was associated with illness and rashes among neighborhood children, residents have said. The vacant lot near Griffin's family home served as an informal playground for generations, according to CNN. "My daddy passed this land down to us and he told us to guard this land," Griffin told CNN.
What Gets Built There
Blueprint Projects has received development approval for a three-building data center complex planned in phases on approximately 52 acres.
Blueprint Projects has approval for three data-center buildings totaling roughly 135,000 square feet, built in three 45,000-square-foot phases with an on-site electricity substation, according to Data Center Dynamics. The facility would sit roughly 500 feet from a neighborhood of predominantly Black and Hispanic families, per CNN reporting. Data centers concentrate servers, cooling systems and electrical infrastructure in large facilities, and nearby residents have raised concerns about equipment noise, backup generator emissions, light pollution and heavy electricity demand.
Residents including Griffin and Carrie D'Anna have argued that the neighborhood needed a grocery store or gas station more than a data center. City officials counter that the project could generate millions in tax revenue over 10 years, potentially supporting schools, teacher salaries and property-tax reductions. They also say the facility would use a closed-loop cooling system that would not create large water demands on the city.
Standing, Appeals, and the Attorney General
A standing dispute has moved the case to a Texas appeals court, while the attorney general opened a parallel investigation.
A Williamson County state district judge dismissed Griffin's lawsuit in October 2025, ruling that she and her relatives lacked legal standing because they neither owned the disputed land nor held a direct financial interest in it. Griffin's attorney, Chris Osborn, has maintained that the dismissal resolved only the standing question, leaving the enforceability of the original parkland restriction untouched. The case is now before a Texas appeals court.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a separate investigation into whether the 1999 trust and park-use restriction were lawfully modified or terminated during the property's chain of transfers. "I will not allow any person or entity to disregard the rule of law or obligations owed to the public," Paxton said in the announcement. The AG's office has indicated it may seek court intervention if the land is found subject to a charitable trust or enforceable restriction, while the City of Taylor said it would cooperate but declined further comment due to ongoing litigation.
Taylor's dispute is unfolding alongside broader growth pressures. Samsung already operates a semiconductor fabrication plant on the city's north side, and a separate 665-acre proposal called Project Mustang sits outside city limits, where much of the city's regulatory authority does not reach. City officials say they are considering new rules covering noise, setbacks, emissions and water use for data centers in industrially zoned areas. The outcome of both the appeal and the AG investigation could determine whether the parkland language survives, and what written public commitments are legally worth in Texas.
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