So the powers that be are turning on Elon is seems. Per WSJ article.
"Tesla’s Fremont, Calif., facility has accumulated more warnings for violations of air pollution rules over the past five years than almost any other company’s plant in California, according to a Journal analysis of informal enforcement actions in the EPA’s compliance database. It is second only to a refinery owned by oil-and-gas behemoth Chevron, which is in nearby Richmond.
This year, California regulators said Tesla violated air-pollution permits at its Fremont factory 112 times over the past five years and alleged it repeatedly failed to fix equipment designed to reduce emissions, releasing thousands of pounds of toxic chemicals in excess of permissible limits into the surrounding communities. “Even after extensive discussion,” Tesla’s efforts “have not been enough to stem the violations,” the abatement order from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District read. Tesla denied the allegations in the state proceeding. Since the order was filed, the regulator has issued 75 additional notices of violations to Tesla, according to a spokesperson. "
Thankfully it's only thousands of pounds rather than tonnes.
Their Texas location isn't as bad I guess.
"The door to the plant’s giant casting furnace, which melts metal to be molded into the Model Y’s parts, wouldn’t shut, spewing toxins into the air and raising temperatures for workers on the floor to as high as 100 degrees. Hazardous wastewater from production—containing paint, oil and other chemicals—was also flowing untreated into the city’s sewer, in violation of state guidelines.
Tesla left the costly problems largely unaddressed during the critical ramp-up. As a result, the company’s 10 million-plus square foot plant—among the largest car factories in the world—dumped toxic pollutants into the environment near Austin for months.
This account of the Austin plant’s environmental problems, which haven’t been reported previously, comes from emails between Texas regulators and the company obtained by The Wall Street Journal in response to public-records requests, as well as interviews with former employees and other documents, including a memo sent by a whistleblower to the Environmental Protection Agency.
A Journal investigation shows that Tesla bosses were aware of the problems but sometimes chose short-term fixes to avoid slowing production. Former employees said they feared they might lose their job if they drew attention internally to potential environmental hazards, because senior managers didn’t consider such issues to be mission critical. As head of the company, Musk set the tone, these people said, pushing employees to move fast and complaining frequently in public statements that unnecessary regulations are strangling the U.S."
Then there's SpaceX
"Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX, has also had run-ins with regulators in Texas and community pushback in Florida, including over the impact of its launches on local plants and animals. Federal regulators recently fined the company for dumping about 262,000 gallons of wastewater from launches into wetlands in Texas without a permit. SpaceX has denied the allegations. "
"Tesla’s Fremont, Calif., facility has accumulated more warnings for violations of air pollution rules over the past five years than almost any other company’s plant in California, according to a Journal analysis of informal enforcement actions in the EPA’s compliance database. It is second only to a refinery owned by oil-and-gas behemoth Chevron, which is in nearby Richmond.
This year, California regulators said Tesla violated air-pollution permits at its Fremont factory 112 times over the past five years and alleged it repeatedly failed to fix equipment designed to reduce emissions, releasing thousands of pounds of toxic chemicals in excess of permissible limits into the surrounding communities. “Even after extensive discussion,” Tesla’s efforts “have not been enough to stem the violations,” the abatement order from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District read. Tesla denied the allegations in the state proceeding. Since the order was filed, the regulator has issued 75 additional notices of violations to Tesla, according to a spokesperson. "
Thankfully it's only thousands of pounds rather than tonnes.
Their Texas location isn't as bad I guess.
"The door to the plant’s giant casting furnace, which melts metal to be molded into the Model Y’s parts, wouldn’t shut, spewing toxins into the air and raising temperatures for workers on the floor to as high as 100 degrees. Hazardous wastewater from production—containing paint, oil and other chemicals—was also flowing untreated into the city’s sewer, in violation of state guidelines.
Tesla left the costly problems largely unaddressed during the critical ramp-up. As a result, the company’s 10 million-plus square foot plant—among the largest car factories in the world—dumped toxic pollutants into the environment near Austin for months.
This account of the Austin plant’s environmental problems, which haven’t been reported previously, comes from emails between Texas regulators and the company obtained by The Wall Street Journal in response to public-records requests, as well as interviews with former employees and other documents, including a memo sent by a whistleblower to the Environmental Protection Agency.
A Journal investigation shows that Tesla bosses were aware of the problems but sometimes chose short-term fixes to avoid slowing production. Former employees said they feared they might lose their job if they drew attention internally to potential environmental hazards, because senior managers didn’t consider such issues to be mission critical. As head of the company, Musk set the tone, these people said, pushing employees to move fast and complaining frequently in public statements that unnecessary regulations are strangling the U.S."
Then there's SpaceX
"Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX, has also had run-ins with regulators in Texas and community pushback in Florida, including over the impact of its launches on local plants and animals. Federal regulators recently fined the company for dumping about 262,000 gallons of wastewater from launches into wetlands in Texas without a permit. SpaceX has denied the allegations. "