Nevada Lawmakers Demand Governor’s Action on Boring Company Safety Concerns
In the wake of significant safety violations by Elon Musk’s Boring Company, Nevada legislators are urging Governor Joe Lombardo to take swift action to address the state’s oversight shortcomings. The call for action follows incidents where firefighters and workers suffered chemical burns, allegedly due to Boring Co.’s unsafe work conditions.
Assemblymember Howard Watts and Senator Rochelle Nguyen have expressed their concerns in a letter to Governor Lombardo, highlighting issues such as “withdrawn citations, altered records, and delays in adjudication.” They argue that these problems have led to the perception that Nevada’s enforcement system lacks independence and transparency.
Despite reports of up to 20 workers being injured, the Boring Company has faced little immediate pressure to implement safety changes, partly due to a backlog in OSHA review cases. This backlog is attributed to Governor Lombardo’s failure to appoint enough review board members, making it difficult to reach a quorum necessary for decision-making.
Governor Lombardo has attempted to deflect responsibility by blaming a cyberattack in August for obstructing the investigation into deleted documents. However, these documents were reportedly removed in May, and no other officials have supported Lombardo’s explanation. Past attempts to clarify the situation have not resolved concerns of a cover-up.
Legislators Demand Comprehensive Plan
As Nevada continues to probe safety issues in the Boring Company’s Las Vegas tunnels, legislators have demanded a “comprehensive plan” from Governor Lombardo to tackle “structural failures” in state oversight. A letter obtained by Fortune outlines “significant concerns about record integrity, administrative accountability, and structural failures within Nevada’s workplace safety system.”
The lawmakers insist on an independent review of an incident where a document in an OSHA investigation was altered, with the findings made public. Altering or hiding public records, they argue, may breach Nevada law and could be considered a Class C felony.
The letter also calls for addressing the prolonged backlog in OSHA cases awaiting review. The Boring Company is contesting eight citations related to chemical burns from 2024, with hearings repeatedly delayed, most recently in February due to a scheduling conflict with the company’s lawyer.
Assemblymember Watts emphasized the need for an effective OSHA process, stating, “These tremendous backlogs” allow companies to contest citations for over a year, delaying resolution of serious safety issues. “We need to ensure that our OSHA process is functioning properly—to hold this and other companies accountable, to provide a safe working environment for people in our community,” he said in an interview with Fortune.
Governor Lombardo has expressed confidence that the Boring Company will ultimately be “very beneficial” to Las Vegas, but his office has not yet commented on the legislators’ demands.
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