Lawsuit Involved Over Alleged Emission of Air Pollutants
On the 14th (local time), CNBC reported that Tesla has been embroiled in a lawsuit over allegations of massive emissions of air pollutants from its factory in California, USA.
According to the report, the U.S. nonprofit organization Environmental Democracy Project filed a lawsuit against Tesla in the San Francisco Federal Court, claiming that Tesla did not comply with the Clean Air Act at its Fremont factory in California.
The organization asserted that Tesla emitted harmful pollutants hundreds of times in the area surrounding the factory since January 2021, and requested the court to order Tesla to stop pollutant emissions and impose a civil penalty of $121,275 per day (approximately 165 million KRW) for violations of the Clean Air Act.
Earlier, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which oversees the Tesla factory, announced on the 2nd that Tesla’s pollution control devices repeatedly failed to operate, resulting in 112 violations of pollutant emission regulations since 2019, and ordered the company to take corrective measures.
Additionally, the district attorneys of 24 regions in California had charged Tesla with illegally disposing of hazardous waste, but the case was settled on the condition that Tesla pay fines and other penalties totaling $1.5 million (approximately 2.052 billion KRW).
CNBC reported, "Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, has promoted the transition to electric vehicles as a solution to climate change issues. However, manufacturing practices such as vehicle assembly and painting, which emit pollutants, continue to follow traditional methods, drawing criticism from environmental activists."
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