Firefighters conducting a safety drill at one of The Boring Company’s construction sites in Las Vegas suffered burns from chemicals used in the tunneling process, according to new report from Fortune.
Those Clark County firefighters were not previously told of the potential danger, but were permanently scarred, the report states. Workers working in The Boring Company’s tunnels have also suffered similar chemical burns.
The Boring Company has been digging tunnels in Las Vegas for a few years in an attempt to connect the entire city with an underground network that uses Teslas to transport people. It’s the first attempt to create a watered-down version of Elon Musk’s dream of building underground transportation, which once included fanciful ideas like hyperloops and larger people-movers.
But the project has been plagued by safety concerns and injuries since its inception. In September, the company even briefly suspended work after an employee suffered a “crushing injury.”
Boring Company employees have been getting burns from the chemical — an accelerator the company uses to harden concrete tunnel walls — for years, according to earlier reports by Fortune’s Jessica Mathews.
In late 2024, the Clark County Fire Department (CCFD) began conducting emergency rescue drills in the tunnels. However, during the preparatory work before the drills, firefighters apparently did not learn about the possibility of combustion from the chemical, which mixes with groundwater and dirt and forms mud lakes.
While officials reportedly tried to clean up the mud before the drills, they were unable to get rid of it all. Firefighters reported irritation to their feet because their “boots were full of mud” and were taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for chemical burns. The Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has launched an investigation.
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The Boring Company blamed the firefighters. “The primary violations in the Training Plan were committed by CCFD employees, not TBC employees,” an attorney for The Boring Company wrote to Nevada OSHA.
Nevada OSHA issued three more “willful” citations (its most serious level) to The Boring Company in May regarding the incident and proposed fines totaling $425,595.
That same day, Boring Company chairman Steve Davis — a top Musk lieutenant and one of the leaders of the billionaire’s Department of Government Efficiency — called the Nevada governor’s office. Records show he spoke with the governor’s head of state infrastructure, a former Tesla employee. The next day, high-ranking Nevada officials met with representatives of the Davis and Boring Company.
The meeting was a highly unusual break from the normal process of referrals and appeals, former OSHA officials told Fortune. Regardless, Nevada OSHA withdrew the reports.
Additionally, Nevada OSHA did not properly document the removal of the citations—something a state agency spokesperson admitted to Fortune. And a document in the case file was redacted to remove evidence of a meeting between leaders of The Boring Company and the governor’s office. The meeting information was re-added after Fortune pointed out the change.
