Two firefighters suffered chemical burns in a Boring Co. tunnel. Then the Nevada Governor’s office got involved, and the penalties disappeared

A Fortune investigation reveals that Boring Company was able to skirt aggressive penalties after protesting to some of Nevada’s most powerful politicians.

Fortune

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

The Sept. 22 cease-and-desist letter from the state Bureau of Water Pollution Control alleged repeated violations of a settlement agreement that the company had entered into after being 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 compel the company to comply with state water pollution laws.

Instead, state inspectors documented nearly 100 alleged new 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."

https://www.propublica.org/article/elon-musk-boring-company-violations-fines-vegas-loop

#USA #Musk #BoringCo #LasVegas #EnvironmentalLaws

Elon Musk’s Boring Co. Accused of Nearly 800 Environmental Violations on Las Vegas Project

Nevada could’ve fined the company more than $3 million, but regulators are seeking a reduced penalty of $242,800, citing an “extraordinary number of violations.”

ProPublica

Elon Musk’s Boring Company Ghosts Cities Across America

The tunnel venture has repeatedly teased local officials with a pledge to ‘solve soul-destroying traffic,’ only to back out

https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-boring-company-tunnel-traffic-11669658396?mod=e2tw

#ElonMusk #Tesla #BoringCo #publictransport

Elon Musk’s Boring Company Ghosts Cities Across America

The tunnel venture has repeatedly teased local officials with a pledge to ‘solve soul-destroying traffic,’ only to back out

WSJ

@jenhill totally gets it. #BoringCo has also failed to deliver on #Musk's promises of doing it much faster and cheaper than conventional technology. In reality, Boring Co. is slow and expensive. And he isn't selling the removed materials as bricks or whatever he promised he'd do.

When Musk laughed about how #Hyperloop was "like a tube and an air hockey table — I swear it's not the hard! 😜 haha", even he probably knew that it was nonsense. He never made a credible effort towards it.