California Counties Sue Tesla for Alleged Mishandling of Hazardous Waste
Oils, brake cleaners, batteries, aerosols, antifreeze, electronic waste, and paint were all among the dangerous substances allegedly mishandled by the electric car maker.
Stephen Lam/Reuters
Elon Musk’s Tesla was sued Tuesday by 25 California counties that allege the electric car manufacturer mishandled hazardous waste in a number of forms at more than 100 facilities throughout the state—the latest development in a years-long saga that included months of settlement talks which fell apart recently.
The more than two dozen district attorneys who banded together to file the lawsuit want an injunction filed against the company to force it to responsibly handle the industrial waste generated by its facilities—as well as steep penalties of up to $70,000 a day for any breaches in compliance.
Materials like “used lubricating oils, brake cleaners, used lead acid batteries and other batteries, used aerosols, used antifreeze, waste solvents and other cleaners, electronic waste, waste paint, and contaminated debris” and a number of other substances were all disposed of improperly, according to the lawsuit, which was originally filed in San Joaquin County Superior Court and first reported by Reuters. Tesla did not return comment to outlet.
The counties also alleged that Tesla transported the hazardous materials to landfills that weren’t authorized to take the substances in question.
Rumblings of a conflict with the California counties first went public in 2022, when the company revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it was the subject of an investigation by several local DAs in the state, according to TechCrunch.
As recently as October of last year the two sides said they were seeking a settlement out of court—though those talks appear to have broken down in recent weeks.
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Tesla has come under fire for its environmental practices before—including once in 2019 when it settled with the Environmental Protection Agency after federal authorities found a plethora of violations at the company’s Fremont, California factory, and another time in 2022 when it was fined for violating the long-standing Clean Air Act.
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