In a hefty settlement with two dozen California district attorneys, Tesla, Inc. is shelling out $1.5 million for improperly chucking hazardous waste. The electric vehicle giant, helmed by the always-in-the-spotlight Elon Musk, got slapped with the penalty by a San Joaquin County judge after an environmental crackdown revealed it was playing fast and loose with toxic trash disposal at its service centers and its Fremont factory, officials said.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer fired shots in a statement saying, "A company that is supposedly environmentally friendly should know better than to illegally dump hazardous waste." Running with other DAs in the state, they dropped the hammer on Tesla for what Spitzer calls "egregious misconduct." According to the investigation by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, which began back in 2018, various nasty bits like used oils, batteries, and paints were found unlawfully dumped.
The probe into Tesla's trash cans started with some stealthy digging from the San Fran DA's enviro-sleuths at Tesla's repair shops. Their findings sparked further poking around by district attorney investigators from counties such as Alameda and Riverside. These additional inspections turned up the same dodgy disposal practices, the Riverside County District Attorney's office reported. Over in the Fremont factory, the DA's crew even found welding waste and paint slop chucked in the garbage.
Tesla has agreed to pay $1.3 million in civil penalties and cough up another $200,000 to cover the cost of the mess being investigated. To clean up its act, the electric car maker is also bringing in a third party to audit waste at 10% of its facilities – that's sure to keep them on their toes for the next five years.
As part of the court-ordered mea culpa, Tesla employees will get schooled on environmental laws while out-of-house auditors pick through Tesla's trash. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jayne C. Lee put her John Hancock on the judgment that sees Tesla forking over some of that fee to Riverside County’s General Protection Fund, and with this hefty fine, Tesla is sending a clear signal: It's done playing with legal fire and, according to the district attorneys, has gotten serious about following the environmental rule book.
