An environmental investigation by the San Francisco district attorney's office that began in 2018 and spawned similar investigations across the state concluded Thursday, when a San Joaquin County judge ordered Tesla to pay $1.5 million to remove inappropriately hazardous materials.
The individual efforts became a combined civil environmental lawsuit by 25 district attorneys from Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and other counties over allegations that Tesla improperly disposed of used lead acid batteries, antifreeze, paint and electronic waste in your car. service and energy centers throughout California.
The electric vehicle giant also received a five-year court order, which includes training employees to properly dispose of hazardous materials. Tesla must also hire a third-party contractor to audit some of its trash bins for hazardous waste.
“While electric vehicles can benefit the environment, the manufacturing and maintenance of these vehicles still generate many harmful waste streams,” the San Francisco District said. Lawyer. Brooke Jenkins said in a statement. “[Thursday’s] “The settlement against Tesla, Inc. serves to provide a cleaner environment for citizens across the state.”
Tesla's lawyers did not respond to a request for comment.
In 2018, the San Francisco district attorney's Environmental Division began undercover inspections of trash bins at Tesla service departments. Investigators found that hazardous waste such as lubricating oils, brake cleaners, aerosols and contaminated waste were not being disposed of properly.
In court documents, the plaintiffs allege that Tesla placed hazardous waste in “any dumpster, container or compactor on the premises” or improperly subcontracted the materials to transfer stations and landfills not suitable for hazardous waste.
In Alameda County, inspectors found welding splatter debris, sometimes containing copper, along with paint mixes, used primer wipes and other hazardous waste dumped in regular trash bins at Tesla's Fremont factory.
Orange County District. Lawyer. Todd Spitzer and Riverside County District. Lawyer. Mike Hestrin said in a statement that his own inspections of Tesla facilities “found similar illegal removal.”
Neither office responded to a request from The Times to explain what was found and where.
“A company that is supposed to be environmentally friendly should know better than to illegally dump hazardous waste that threatens to cause irreparable harm to our communities,” Spitzer said. in a sentence.
Of the settlement money to be paid, $1.3 million will be shared among the 25 counties, while $200,000 will pay for the cost of the investigations.
Alameda County is slated to take the lion's share, $225,000. San Francisco and San Joaquin will each claim $200,000; San Diego, Orange and Riverside will receive $100,000; Los Angeles, $15,000; and Santa Barbara, San Bernardino and Ventura, $10,000.
