Elon Musk’s Boring Company is accused of nearly 800 environmental violations at its Las Vegas project

Nevada regulators have accused Elon Musk’s Boring Co. of violating environmental regulations nearly 800 times in the past two years as it dug a sprawling network of tunnels beneath Las Vegas for its Tesla-powered “people mover.” The company’s alleged violations include starting to drill without approval, releasing untreated water onto city streets and pouring mud from its trucks, according to a new document obtained by City Cast Las Vegas and ProPublica.

September 22 Cease and desist letter The state Water Pollution Control Bureau alleged repeated violations of a settlement agreement the company entered into after it was fined five years ago for discharging groundwater into storm drains without a permit. The agreement, signed by a Boring executive in 2022, was intended to force the company to comply with state water pollution laws.

Instead, state inspectors documented nearly 100 new alleged violations of the agreement. The letter also accuses the company of failing to appoint an independent environmental manager to regularly inspect its construction sites. State regulators counted 689 missed inspections.

A state spokesman said The Boring Company opposes the infringement letter.

The Nevada Department of Environmental Protection could have fined the company more than $3 million According to the 2022 agreementwhich allowed daily penalties to be assessed. But regulators reduced the total penalty to $242,800. For example, the bulk of the total potential fine was related to the alleged inspections, but the agency chose to impose only a $10,000 fine for each of the company’s 11 permits.

“Given the unusual number of violations, NDEP has decided to exercise its discretion to reduce the penalty to two violations at $5,000 per permit, which it believes provides a reasonable penalty that will serve to deter future noncompliance behavior,” regulators wrote in the letter.

A state spokesperson said payment of the fine is not required until after the dispute resolution process is complete. In the letter, the agency reminded the company that it “reserves the right to direct TBC to cease and desist construction activities” under the agreement.

In the past, Musk has embraced paying fines rather than waiting for approvals as a way of doing business.

“The environmental regulations, in my opinion, are pretty terrible,” he said. He happened with the libertarian Cato Institute last year. “You have to get prior permission, instead of paying a fine if you make a mistake, which I think would be more effective.”

Musk and Boring did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

Message of September 22 It documents the latest in a series of alleged violations of state and local regulations by The Boring Co. Since I started building Project Loop in 2019, which uses driver-operated Tesla cars to transport people through tunnels. The project, initially a 0.8-mile underground route connecting sections of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority campuses to each other, has grown to 68 planned miles of tunnels and 104 stations across the Las Vegas Valley. It is being implemented in partnership with LVCVA, the tourism board known for its slogan “What happens here, stays here”.

The Boring Company uses a machine known as a Prufrock to dig tunnels 12 feet in diameter, using chemical accelerators as part of the process. For every foot the company takes on, it removes about 6 cubic yards of soil plus any groundwater, according to a company document prepared for state environmental officials.

Because it is privately funded and receives no federal funds, the project is exempt from many comprehensive government inspection and environmental analysis requirements. But state permits must be obtained to ensure that the waste does not pollute the environment or local water sources.

A January story published by ProPublica and City Cast Las Vegas documented how The company worked to evade county and state oversight requirements By saying its project doesn’t fit current regulations and promising to hold itself accountable through independent audits — all while citing permit violations and water pollution in 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023. Last year, the company successfully lobbied to be… Exempt from obtaining a county “amusement and transportation system” permitInstead, they call for a supervisory plan that removes multiple layers of inspection.

Workers have complained of chemical burns caused by waste resulting from the tunneling process, and firefighters must disinfect their equipment after conducting rescue operations from project sites. The company was fined more than $112,000 by the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration in late 2023 after workers complained of ankle-deep water in tunnels, mud spills and burns. The Boring Company has disputed the violations. And just last month, a construction worker suffered a “crushing injury” after being pinned between two 4,000-foot pipes, according to police records. Firefighters used a crane to remove him from the tunnel opening.

After ProPublica and City Cast Las Vegas published their story in January, both the CEO and board chair of the LVCVA criticized the reports, arguing that the project was well structured. For example, Steve Hill, CEO of the LVCVA, pointed to delays in opening the Loop station by local officials who were concerned that fire safety requirements were inadequate. Board Chairman Jim Gibson, who is also a Clark County commissioner, agreed that the project is appropriately structured.

“We would not have granted the approvals if we decided that things were not the way they should be and should be for public safety reasons,” Gibson said. Las Vegas Review Journal. “Our feeling is that we did what we had to do to protect the public.”

Asked for a response to the new proposed fines, an LVCVA spokesperson said: “We will not be involved in this story.”

Ben Leavell, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said repeated allegations that the company is violating regulations — including a detailed regulatory arrangement the company agreed to — suggest officials are not upholding public safety.

“Not if they’re recommitting the exact violation,” Leavell said.

Leavell wondered whether the $250,000 penalty would be large enough to change operations at The Boring Co., which had been… Worth $7 billion in 2023. Studies show Fines that do not significantly impact a company’s profits do not prevent companies from committing future violations, Leavell said.

A state spokesman disagreed that regulators were not keeping the public safe, and said the agency believed its penalties would deter “future noncompliance.”

“NDEP is actively monitoring and inspecting projects,” the spokesperson said.