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.”

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.

  • SteevyT@beehaw.org
    8·
    6 days ago

    How quickly would companies change their behaviors if fines were literally exponential?

    Where fines are defined by a function fine=baseFine#violations that should get to be meaningful fairly quickly.

    • mushroommunk@lemmy.today
      6·
      5 days ago

      Or at least based on some percentage of company’s gross revenue or something that actually impacts their bottom line instead of just being a slap on the wrist cost of doing business.

      • SteevyT@beehaw.org
        1·
        5 days ago

        Also doable, I just like the idea of being lenient for a first time mistake, but absolutely demolishing them if they don’t fix their shit.

        A $1,000 initial fine would suddenly be a $1,000,000 fine for the second infraction, $1billion third infraction, and by the fourth I dont think there are any companies in existence that could survive it.

        Edit: Overzealous on math.

    • LadyMeow@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      5·
      6 days ago

      Nuuuuuu…… bbbbbbut the poor businesses! How will these little precious babies surrrrvivvvveeeeeee. We have to let them get away with whatever or else capitalism will faiiiiilllll!!!