Elon Musk’s Boring Co. accused of nearly 800 environmental violations on Las Vegas project
Nevada could have fined the company more than $3 million, but regulators are seeking a fine reduced to $242,800, citing an “extraordinary number of violations.”
By Anjeanette Damon for ProPublica and Dayvid Figler for Las Vegas City Cast
Nevada state regulators have accused Elon Musk’s Boring Co. of violating environmental regulations nearly 800 times over the past two years by digging a vast network of tunnels beneath Las Vegas for its Tesla-powered “people-mover vehicle.” The company’s alleged violations include starting digging without permits, discharging untreated water onto city streets and dumping mud from its trucks, according to a new document obtained by City Cast Las Vegas and ProPublica.
September 22 cease and desist letter of the State Water Pollution Control Bureau alleged repeated violations of a settlement agreement the company reached after it was fined five years ago for discharging groundwater into storm drains without a permit. That 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 hire an independent environmental manager to regularly inspect its construction sites. State regulators counted 689 missed inspections.
The Boring Co. disputes the violation letter, a state spokesperson said.
The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection could have fined the company more than $3 million. as part of the 2022 agreement, which made it possible to impose daily penalties. But regulators reduced the total penalty to $242,800. For example, most of the total possible fine was related to the alleged missed inspections, but the agency chose to only impose a $10,000 penalty for each of the company’s 11 permits.
“Given the extraordinary number of violations, NDEP has decided to exercise its discretion to reduce the penalty to two violations of $5,000 per permit, which it believes provides a reasonable penalty that will still serve to deter future non-compliance behavior,” the regulators wrote in the letter.
Payment of the penalty is only required after the dispute resolution process is complete, a state spokesperson said. In the letter, the agency reminded the company that it “reserves the right to order TBC to cease construction activities” under the agreement.
In the past, Musk agreed to pay penalties rather than waiting for approvals to do business.
“Environmental regulations are, in my opinion, largely terrible,” he told an event with the libertarian Cato Institute last year. “You have to get permission in advance, instead of, say, paying a penalty if you do something wrong, which I think would be much more efficient.”
Neither Musk nor Boring responded to requests for comment for this story.
The letter of September 22 documents the latest in a series of alleged violations of state and local regulations by The Boring Co. since construction began in 2019 on the Loop project, which uses driver-operated Teslas to move people through tunnels. The project, initially a 0.8-mile underground road connecting sections of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority campus together, has expanded to 68 miles of tunnels and 104 stations planned across the Las Vegas Valley. It is produced in partnership with the LVCVA, the tourist office best known for its slogan “What happens here, stays here”.
Boring uses a machine known as the Prufrock to dig tunnels 12 feet in diameter, applying chemical accelerators in the process. For every foot the company drills, it removes about 6 cubic yards of soil plus groundwater, according to a company document prepared for state environmental officials.
Because it is privately financed and receives no federal money, the project is exempt from many extensive government requirements for environmental monitoring and analysis. But it is necessary to obtain state permits to ensure that the waste does not contaminate the environment or local water sources.
An article published in January by ProPublica and City Cast Las Vegas documented how the the company worked to evade county and state oversight requirements by arguing that its project did not meet current regulations and promising to hold itself accountable through independent audits – all while being cited for permit violations and water pollution in 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Last year, the company successfully lobbied to be exempted from holding a county permit for “entertainment and transportation system,” instead advocating for an oversight plan that removes multiple layers of inspection.
Workers have complained of chemical burns from waste generated by the tunneling process, and firefighters must decontaminate their equipment after carrying out rescues 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 the tunnels, mud spills and burns. The Boring Co. challenged the violations. Last month, a construction worker suffered a “crush injury” after being trapped between two 4,000-foot pipes, police records show. Firefighters used a crane to extract him from the tunnel opening.
After ProPublica and City Cast Las Vegas published their January article, LVCVA’s CEO and board chairman criticized the reporting, arguing that the project was well regulated. As an example, LVCVA CEO Steve Hill cited the delayed opening of a Loop station by local officials who were concerned that fire safety requirements were not adequate. Board Chairman Jim Gibson, who is also a Clark County commissioner, agreed the project was properly regulated.
“We would not have given approval if we had determined that things were not as they should be and what they should be for reasons of public safety,” Gibson said, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal. “We feel like we did the right thing to protect the public.”
When asked for a response to the proposed new fines, an LVCVA spokesperson said: “We will not participate in this story. »
Related | Elon Musk’s Boring Company digs a tunnel under Las Vegas without any supervision
Repeated allegations that the company is violating regulations — including the tailored regulatory agreement the company agreed to — indicate that authorities are failing to keep the public safe, said Ben Leffel, an assistant professor of public policy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
“Not if they commit almost the same violation again,” Leffel said.
Leffel questioned whether a $250,000 penalty would be large enough to change the operations of The Boring Co., which was valued at $7 billion in 2023. Studies show that fines that do not significantly reduce a company’s profits do not deter companies from committing future violations, Leffel said.
A state spokesperson disagreed that regulators are failing to ensure public safety and said the agency believes its sanctions will deter “future noncompliance.”
“NDEP actively monitors and inspects projects,” the spokesperson said.
