Episode 2: Violations
The Boring Company has applied to discharge 143,000 gallons of treated wastewater daily into the Colorado River near my home. I'm concerned they will not follow the terms of this permit.
They have already received multiple environmental violations and public records show that they are not working with regulators in good faith.
There will be a public meeting hosted by the State to discuss this permit in Bastrop on March 21st, 2023 7:00 p.m. at the Hampton Inn
A grassroots group of neighbors is also hosting a meeting March 8th, 2023 6:00 p.m. at the Bastrop Public Library to share our research and plan for the later meeting.
Anyone can make public comments on the application to the TCEQ, pending permit number WQ0005397000
Episode 1: Court
Elon Musk moved his startup, The Boring Company, to my neighbor's 70 acre cow pasture in Bastrop, Texas in May 2021. I'm actually an Elon fan, so I was initially excited about what they would be doing.
However, my direct experience working with the leadership team at The Boring Company has been disappointing and downright disrespectful. They've made lots of promises to neighbors and county officials but have not delivered.
They also seem to be actively hiding the truth and forcing vendors, employees, and visitors to limit their free speech. I was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement when I requested site drawings, but I later learned those drawings were public record!
Unfortunately they've also been breaking county laws and I've had to go to Bastrop County Commissioner's Court to force them to install a legal septic system and submit driveway permits.
My immediate concern is with our groundwater. Their plans show them tunneling 1,500ft from the Lower Colorado River, where we have an extremely shallow water table and are practically all sand and gravel. Every family home in the area is on well water, all the neighbors drink this water, and several rely on it as part of their small businesses. (The Boring Company has tied their operations and employee trailers into the commercial water pipeline.)
I'm working with every local and federal agency to ensure they're following every applicable rule and regulation. But unfortunately the more I understand about what is legally required of them, the more violations I uncover. Some of the agencies include LCRA, TxDOT, TCEQ, EPA, OSHA, ...
I'm also receiving tips from industry experts, former employees, and current employees. These include documented proof of unsafe working conditions, environmental issues, and ethical concerns. I'm working on reporting those to the relevant bodies and following-up on their resolution.
If Elon is going to prototype the world's fastest tunneling operation in my neighborhood, then I expect the most innovative and transparent safety systems to go along side it. I want sensors around every tunnel publishing public data about water quality and any potential containments. I want a red team onsite with the tunneling crew providing transparency.
Texas landowner rights allow you to do pretty much anything on your land, but Texas law also says we share the air and The Boring Company shares the groundwater with my family.
Why doesn't this public infrastructure company want transparency? How can we trust them to do the right thing underground when they've shown contempt for our minimal, rural permitting process?
The Boring Company leadership team doesn't ask for forgiveness when they're caught, they try to bully our elected officials and civil servants into more exceptions and cutting-of-the-line. I'm proud of Bastrop County for stepping up and forcing them to follow the rules.
The same rules we all have to follow as Bastrop citizens.