Tesla sued by 25 California counties over hazardous waste handling

Electric vehicle maker Tesla was sued by district attorneys representing 25 counties in California over the company’s alleged improper handling of hazardous waste materials at facilities throughout the state.

Although Tesla is now headquartered in Austin, Texas, it was previously headquartered in Palo Alto, California where it maintains its engineering headquarters. The company’s first, high-volume EV factory in the world was its Fremont, California vehicle assembly plant, which it still owns and operates today.

The lawsuit, The People of California v. Tesla Inc., was filed in a California state court in San Joaquin County on Tuesday. Reuters first reported on the litigation.

The district attorneys alleged in their complaint, among other things, that Tesla had: “intentionally disposed of, and intentionally caused the disposal of hazardous waste” at points that were “not authorized” nor appropriately equipped to handle that material.

They also alleged that Tesla often failed to accurately label containers of hazardous materials that it generated, used or stored at its facilities, and failed to train employees in proper handling of hazardous waste.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Environmental health and safety specialist Eric Roesch, who has written critically about Tesla and SpaceX at his blog ESGHound for years, evaluated the complaint.

Roesch told CNBC, “At a complex factory like an auto plant, you may expect occasional violations. But this complaint says that Tesla is not even doing basic stuff that anyone who works in an auto body shop would know to do, like labeling and management of things like used oil, spent batteries, used paint — anything that can leach into the groundwater.”

When asked how serious the claims are Roesch added, “The state’s accusation that Tesla continued to violate environmental rules for years…