(NewsWorthy.news) – Tesla has been ordered by a California regulator to address the conditions at its factory in Fremont, California, that resulted in serious air quality violations. The company was issued the order by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District on June 25. The abatement order raised several of the Fremont facility’s violations of air quality regulations, stating that the facility had been cited a total of 112 times since 2019 for violating air quality standards.
The order claims that the oxidation technology used by the company, which is meant to filter out harmful fumes, can occasionally malfunction, resulting in unfiltered toxins being released into the air. In May 2024, the regulatory body submitted official accusations against Tesla after the company had already paid several fines for violating the Clean Air Act at its factory.
On May 10, the Environmental Democracy Project, a nonprofit organization, filed a lawsuit in a federal court against the leading electric vehicle manufacturer. The suit cited the regulator’s findings to claim the company violated the Clean Air Act. It called the exposure of the public to “excess amounts” of pollution – which included arsenic, cadmium, nitrogen oxides along with other dangerous chemicals – “extensive and ongoing”.
The latest development follows a string of controversies that call into question the company’s environmentally friendly credentials. In January, 25 California counties sued the company after it improperly handled hazardous waste and sent chemicals such as antifreeze to the wrong landfills.
In 2023 Tesla released its 2022 impact report, which revealed that its carbon footprint was far higher than the company had indicated in the past. The increase in demand for lithium that is used to make batteries for electric cars has long raised concerns about its devastating impact on both the ecosystem and local indigenous communities in Chile, where much of the alkali metal is sourced.
The California regulator also found that Tesla’s employees occasionally switched off the oxidation system when other problems arose. The company could be fined millions of dollars if it continues to violate air quality standards. Tesla previously agreed to install solar panels and pay a fine of $1 million after the regular found it guilty of 30 air quality violations.
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