x
Breaking News
More () »

The Boring Company could face consequences after more environmental violations

Enforcement action is only done for "serious or continuing violations," according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

BASTROP, Texas — The Boring Company, which is owned by Elon Musk, could face consequences after being hit with more environmental quality violations. 

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) confirmed to KVUE that the Bastrop-based company has four water quality-related violations referred for enforcement action.

"We just continue to see these repeat problems," said Chap Ambrose, who lives next to The Boring Company. "Unfortunately, yeah, not a little effort to sort of make sure they don't happen again."

Ambrose has been following the citations and complaints that have been piling up with the state and county since 2022. According to TCEQ's website, enforcement action is only done for "serious or continuing violations."

"So I think TCEQ's appropriately escalating," Ambrose said.

PREVIOUS STORY: Bastrop community members voice concerns over The Boring Company's plans to dump wastewater into river

The recent violations were for things like failure to install and maintain effective erosion controls and discharging stormwater associated with industrial activities without a permit. 

According to TCEQ documents, the violations have since been resolved. They happened after the company filed a request with TCEQ to dump 140,000 gallons of treated wastewater daily into the Colorado River.

It's a move a packed house of neighbors spoke against in March, in fear of them not following permitting rules.

"We share groundwater here and live right next door," Ambrose said. "So it's really frustrating and worrying to see how careless they are with these laws that protect our water." 

The treated wastewater dumping request is still pending. TCEQ says it's still going through its process to determine what the punishment would be for the most recent violations.

KVUE reached out to The Boring Company for a statement but we haven’t heard back yet.

Boomtown is KVUE's series covering the explosive growth in Central Texas. For more Boomtown stories, head to KVUE.com/Boomtown.

Daranesha Herron on social mediaFacebook Instagram

KVUE on social mediaFacebook | X | Instagram | YouTube

Before You Leave, Check This Out