Records of a meeting between Elon Musk-led The Boring Co. officials and Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo‘s office have vanished from public record. The meeting was held to discuss Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) citations.
Citations Rescinded, Records Missing
The Boring Co. was fined over $400,000 by OSHA following citations for safety violations. After the meeting with Governor Lombardo’s office, the citations were rescinded, but the records of the meeting disappeared.
- The Boring Co., OSHA, and the Nevada Governor’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
- An OSHA official stated that the decision to rescind the citations came from “above the agency.”
- Teri Williams, an OSHA spokesperson, attributed the disappearance of records to mistakes and added that the citations did not meet legal requirements.
Permanent Scars, Lax Safety
The OSHA citations stemmed from an incident where two firefighters reported skin irritation after a mock drill in the tunnels. The firefighters spent two hours in the tunnel and suffered permanent scarring.
- The firefighters were not aware of the hazardous chemicals in the muck fluid used in the tunnels.
- An anonymous employee stated that workers tried to clean the muck fluid but struggled due to its constant flow.
- Employees reported a lack of safety protocols and training, with cases of chemical burns occurring “daily” on the site.
Boring Company Fined
The Boring Co. was recently fined over $500,000 for dumping tunneling fluid into Las Vegas’ manholes. The Clark County Water Reclamation District (CCWRD) had to clean up 12 cubic yards of drilling mud and other waste from one of its sewage treatment facilities due to the discharges.
Individualized Transport, Putin-Trump Tunnel
Elon Musk has proposed the idea of “individualized mass transit” as the company nears completion of the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop. The company plans to construct over 68 miles of tunnels in Las Vegas, with over 55 stations planned.
- Musk outlined that the fastest way to travel would be via pods/cars in vacuum tunnels.
- A Russian official recently urged Musk to construct a “Putin-Trump” tunnel beneath the Bering Strait, linking Alaska and Russia, as a “symbol of unity.”