Some Nevada lawmakers are concerned about safety violations with Elon Musk's Boring Company work in Las Vegas.
On Tuesday, the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Growth and Infrastructure met in Las Vegas to get its questions answered.
"There has just been a stream of disturbing news about violations of health and safety practices," said Assem. Howard Watts (D) Las Vegas.
Since 2020, Musk's company has received 17 complaints to Nevada OSHA.
Four of those investigations are still open.
Some of the violations include a lack of proper personal protective equipment, brakes failing on a forklift, and firefighters and employees suffering from chemical burns.
Controversy stems from the fact that the company received OSHA citations last year, and then shortly after, the fines were waived.
There were allegations that the Governor's Office used political influence to remove the punishment, but those claims have been denied.
"There is no additional pressure that is added to me to sway a decision one way or the other," said Dr. Kristopher Sanchez, Director, Nevada Department of Business & Industry, a department that OSHA is in. "It does not happen, it will not happen in my leadership in business and industry. I don't care about the title of the person on the other side of the phone."
The Nevada Division of Industrial Relations said the claims were withdrawn after legal review, which wasn't done until after the citations were given.
"It was an oversight that it was not given to legal prior to issuance of the citations," said Victoria Carreón, Administrator for the division.
Carreón says policy changes have gone into effect since this happened.
Watts was very critical of the Boring Company since the operations are mostly occurring in his district.
One of the points he brought up in the meeting was the fact that the company has not taken advantage of free OSHA training to help smooth out operations and avoid future citations.
"We did discuss with them then what we do offer through SCATS. They did not, at that time, ask for our services," Carreón said.
That was back in 2022, when many state officials took a trip to the job site.
Watts says that legislators will be looking into policy changes for the 2027 Nevada Legislative Session.
However, there are things in the meantime he's hoping get implemented.
"When a company fights fines for OSHA violations, that goes through a review board," he explained. "That board is appointed by the Governor, and it has two vacancies currently, so it's handicapping the ability for them to hold these companies accountable." Â
Watts says that another short-term goal is to have OSHA and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection put the hammer down.
The Assemblymember also has lots of questions still unanswered.
Both the Governor's Office and the Boring Company declined to show up at the meeting.
The Musk-owned company sent a seven-page memo, but Watts said it barely covered the committee's questions.
The Governor's Office sent a letter to Watts saying it had minimal involvement and the relevant agencies were already attending the meeting.
2 News Nevada reached out to both agencies.
The Boring Company has not responded, including to multiple requests last week about the proposed tunnel out to USA Parkway.
The Governor's Office referred us to a statement from the Department of Business & Industry from November.
