Tesla ordered to pay $1 million-plus for waste

Riverside County District Attorney (DA) Mike Hestrin, along with 24 other DAs throughout California, announced that Feb. 1, a judge in San Joaquin County ordered Tesla Inc. to pay $1.5 million as part of a settlement of a civil environmental prosecution alleging the electric car company mishandled hazardous waste at its car service centers, energy center and a factory in Fremont.

Tesla Inc., a Delaware corporation, currently owns and operates about 57 car service centers and 18 solar energy facilities throughout California, including five sites in Riverside County. It also manufactures electric vehicles at its Fremont Factory.

In the complaint filed in San Joaquin County, prosecutors accused Tesla Inc. of illegally disposing of hazardous waste generated during its servicing and manufacturing of its electric vehicles, and of violating laws related to the storage and management of this hazardous waste.

The investigation, initiated by the San Francisco DA’s Office Environmental Division began in 2018 when San Francisco DA investigators conducted undercover inspections of Tesla Inc.’s trash containers at its car service centers, which revealed the illegal disposal of hazardous 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.

DA investigators from Alameda, Monterey, Orange, Placer, Riverside, San Diego and San Joaquin counties then conducted more inspections at Tesla Inc.’s car service centers throughout California and found similar unlawful disposals.

Alameda County DA investigators also conducted waste inspections of trash containers at the Fremont Factory and found the unlawful disposal of more hazardous waste, including weld spatter waste (which at times contains copper) produced while welding metal car panels, waste paint mix cups produced during paint repair operations, and used wipes contaminated with primer coat generated by wiping the surfaces of coated vehicles.

As part of the settlement, Tesla Inc. is ordered to pay $1.3 million in civil penalties, and $200,000 in costs of investigation, with a total of $100,000 going directly to Riverside County’s General Protection Fund. Among compliance measures such as training of employees, the settlement also requires Tesla Inc. to hire a third party to annually audit waste in its trash containers at 10% of its facilities. These audits will occur each year for five years and auditors will examine trash containers for hazardous waste.

The case was brought by 25 California DA offices where Tesla Inc.’s factory, car service centers and energy locations are located. Tesla Inc. cooperated with the DAs’ investigation and took steps to improve its compliance with the environmental protection laws brought to its attention by the prosecutors.

One of the compliance steps Tesla Inc. took after the DAs contacted it was the quarantining and screening of trash containers for hazardous waste at all of its service centers before trash was brought to the landfill.