After years of pollution violations, Tesla is fined $275,000 by the EPA

After years of “excessive precedence violations” of air air pollution rules at its Fremont, Calif., meeting plant, Tesla has been penalized by the U.S. Environmental Safety Company.

The company fined the electrical automobile firm $275,000 — about what it might value to purchase two high-end Tesla Mannequin S Plaid cars. The corporate offered greater than 936,000 autos in 2021 and boasts a market worth of $800 billion.

The settlement with Tesla “displays EPA’s continued dedication to make sure compliance with federal clear air legal guidelines,” Martha Guzman, the company’s regional administrator, mentioned in an announcement Tuesday.

The company famous Tesla’s use of poisonous chemical compounds in its paint store — formaldehyde, ethylbenzene, naphthalene and xylene — “identified or suspected to trigger most cancers or different severe unwanted side effects.” Any automaker’s paint store emits the identical chemical compounds, however EPA rules have been set to reduce emissions and to guard employee and public well being.

The EPA didn’t quantify the extent of extra poisonous substances emitted from the Tesla plant. One of many violations cited by the company, nonetheless, is “failing to gather and preserve all required data related to the calculation of hazardous air pollution emission charge” for the paint store.

The corporate additionally did not “appropriately carry out” month-to-month emissions calculations to indicate the paint store complied with air pollution requirements, the EPA mentioned, and did not “develop and/or implement” work practices to stop poisonous discharge from storage and mixing of supplies used to color automobiles.

Tesla didn’t reply to a request for remark.

Tesla has been a repeat violator of air air pollution limits on the Fremont plant. In 2019, the EPA fined the corporate $31,000 for hazardous waste violations and required it to pay $55,000 to the Fremont Hearth Division for emergency response tools. At the very least 4 fires have damaged out on the paint store.

In Could 2021, Tesla was fined $1 million by the Bay Space Air High quality Administration District after 33 violation notices, together with air pollution emissions that exceeded Tesla’s allow thresholds, failure to keep up data and failure to report info to the district “in a well timed method.”

The Fremont plant has additionally been within the information currently after the California Division of Truthful Employment and Housing filed a lawsuit Feb. 9 relating to civil rights violations stemming from allegations of racism and sexual harassment aimed largely at Black employees.

EPA information present that of the 60,000 households inside 5 miles of the Tesla plant, 81% are individuals of colour and greater than 25% earn lower than $75,000 a 12 months.