The pipe belonged to Tesla. The dark liquid was wastewater from the company's nearly $1 billion lithium refinery, which began operations in December 2024 and
Isn’t that the important part of the story? Effing Texas regulators didn’t detect Strontium (or other pollutants the factory didn’t mention) so didn’t test for it?
We’re so used to the idea that companies will do the least they are mandated to, but isn’t that why we have regulators? If I get a new water heater I’m required to have an inspector sign off and his job is to flag anything that is off. Why can’t a multibillion dollar industrial facility be held to the same standard?
Effing Texas regulators didn’t detect Strontium (or other pollutants the factory didn’t mention) so didn’t test for it?
I mean, they did. That’s how we know about it. But what can they actually do about it? Prince Abbott will just cover this up and fire anyone who won’t shut up about it.
It was an independent lab that tested it because the ditch owners thought something was wrong. Tesla claims they also measured it incorrectly, but you can’t really dispute the color coming out, so something is in it.
Even if they did measure it incorrectly though, it’s going to be hard to dispute the lithium fingerprint they found, it would only be the other chemicals that become questionable. Seems like such a simple answer is to re-test it and re-test it immediately, and put them under extended re-testing scrutiny if the re-test comes back clean (maybe they changed something to fake the new test). Also re-test where the “incorrect” test was done to see if it gets similar results there as well. It’s not even pocket change to Tesla, it’s like a piece of lint in the pocket that a penny has touched change.
It was a public drainage district - specifically, Nueces County Drainage District No. 2 - that requested the lab be performed. These are municipal offices within the structure of the County that stumbled on a pipe authorized by the state and misused by Tesla’s facilities.
This is effectively a dispute between the county and the state, wherein the state has authorized dumping it should not have the legal authority to provide.
If a discharge pipe is traced back to a company - and it is discharging unsafe levels or typically unexpected chemicals - then it should be on that company to get their waste water into a manageable condition.
Just because a municipal/council/whatever has above average water processing, doesn’t mean companies get a free pass to abuse it
And I’m guessing water treatment doesn’t fix these, does it?
It can. But you’d need a facility built to do it.
If you don’t anticipate Strontium in your wastewater, you’re not going to build a system to leech it out or neutralize it.
Isn’t that the important part of the story? Effing Texas regulators didn’t detect Strontium (or other pollutants the factory didn’t mention) so didn’t test for it?
We’re so used to the idea that companies will do the least they are mandated to, but isn’t that why we have regulators? If I get a new water heater I’m required to have an inspector sign off and his job is to flag anything that is off. Why can’t a multibillion dollar industrial facility be held to the same standard?
I mean, they did. That’s how we know about it. But what can they actually do about it? Prince Abbott will just cover this up and fire anyone who won’t shut up about it.
It was an independent lab that tested it because the ditch owners thought something was wrong. Tesla claims they also measured it incorrectly, but you can’t really dispute the color coming out, so something is in it.
Even if they did measure it incorrectly though, it’s going to be hard to dispute the lithium fingerprint they found, it would only be the other chemicals that become questionable. Seems like such a simple answer is to re-test it and re-test it immediately, and put them under extended re-testing scrutiny if the re-test comes back clean (maybe they changed something to fake the new test). Also re-test where the “incorrect” test was done to see if it gets similar results there as well. It’s not even pocket change to Tesla, it’s like a piece of lint in the pocket that a penny has touched change.
It was a public drainage district - specifically, Nueces County Drainage District No. 2 - that requested the lab be performed. These are municipal offices within the structure of the County that stumbled on a pipe authorized by the state and misused by Tesla’s facilities.
This is effectively a dispute between the county and the state, wherein the state has authorized dumping it should not have the legal authority to provide.
Given the state of Texas’ infrastructure, probably fair to assume this doesn’t exist.
Houston has one of the better waste water treatment plants in the country.
Robstown, though? Idk. Doubt it
If a discharge pipe is traced back to a company - and it is discharging unsafe levels or typically unexpected chemicals - then it should be on that company to get their waste water into a manageable condition.
Just because a municipal/council/whatever has above average water processing, doesn’t mean companies get a free pass to abuse it