Inside Elon's Las Vegas doom loop where workers say they spend 12 hours-a-day ... trends now
Workers at Elon Musk's languishing Las Vegas tunnel project have spoken out about unbearable conditions at the underground site dubbed 'The Plantation' - as an investigation reveals some have been left permanently scarred.
The 1.7 mile tunnel system first broke ground in 2019 as part of a plan by Musk to alleviate traffic in the seminal city and connect hotels.
But a report by Bloomberg's Businessweek this week, that includes first-hand accounts, have raised serious concerns about an unsafe working environment.
The outlet obtained a still-ongoing investigation by the Nevada State Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) which describes how crews were forced to tunnel in sweltering conditions for 24-hours a day in 12-hour shifts - and that '15 to 20 employees' of Musk's Boring company had been burned by chemical 'accelerants'.
'You'd be like, "Why am I on fire?"' one tunnel worker recalled of being forced to wade through mud laced with skin-damaging chemical during a push to finish a section of the barely three-mile, system that's taken five years to build.
The filing further describes a close call over the summer, where an intern was nearly crushed by concrete blocks that collapsed after brackets holding them gave way.
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Workers for Elon Musk's languishing Las Vegas tunnel project have described unbearable conditions at the underground worksite
The accounts come months after an anonymous complaint claimed workers were being subjected to unsafe conditions while working on the half-mile section of the Vegas Loop
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Speaking on condition of anonymity to Businessweek, the staffer went on to bolster some of the claims contained in the OSHA report.
They all involve the half-mile long Encore tunnel, where workers said they were forced to spend entire 12-hour shifts underground - including lunch breaks - and had to ask permission to use the bathroom.
They also had to be aware of muck falling from a conveyor belt above, as it moved the mix of dirt and accelerants from the front of the dig site back toward the exit.
When the chemical-laden mixture reached the bins outside, the receptacles were kept dangerously full, said employees for the infrastructure company that started as a subsidiary of SpaceX in 2017.
Employees interviewed for the ongoing OSHA investigation also highlighted a shocking case where an intern was nearly crushed to death when a bin collapsed.
Inside the tunnel temperatures regularly soared to well over 100F, employees said - earning the section meant to connect the Encore and Westgate hotels to a planned 70-mile route its unfortunate nickname 'The Plantation'.
Meanwhile, the only portion of the tunnel in operation is a 1.7-mile section that runs solely during conventions, ferrying attendees in chauffeur-driven Teslas limited to 40 mph between three stations near Las Vegas Boulevard.
Musk's vision - aired in 2019 after he registered the Space X subsidiary as TBC: The Boring Company - is notably much grander, with a forecast additional 68 miles planned to at some point run underneath Sin City's seminal strip.
However, five years in, those extensions remain little more than conjecture, as other subterranean tunnels in cities like LA and Chicago previously touted by the Tesla CEO have been called off in their planning stages.
The system currently operates only during conventions, and attendees ride in chauffeured Tesla limited to 40 miles per hour
Those projects - which included a 'Dugout Loop' that would have brought residents to Dodger Stadium and a high-speed train that could have connected Chicago’s O'Hare Airport to its downtown - were enough to raise about $800million in funding.
But the Las Vegas one is all that's materialized, and remains a far cry from the sprawling, citywide system Musk, 52, originally promised.
The Las Vegas Convention Center Loop today can handle up to 4,400 passengers per hour, OSHA’s report and staffers interviewed by Businessweek both stated - well short of the 90,000 passengers per hour forecast at full buildout.
A forecast 81 medium-sized stations have also failed to come to fruition, with only three open to the public during conventions.
OSHA’s report, meanwhile, has already resulted in $112,504 in fines for Musk's infrastructure arm, which did not provide staffers in the Encore and Westgate tunnels the gear necessary to protect their skin.
'The employer did not provide instruction on personal protective equipment requirements to employees,' OSHA’s report stated. Lawyers for The Boring Company said this week that they are contesting the claims.
'Employees were [also] not instructed in the recognition and avoidance of hazards associated with the underground construction,' the report added.
Workers who spoke to Businessweek also described how the conditions they were subjected to were particularly dangerous during the spring and summer of 2023, when digging connectors to the Encore and Westgate hotels.
Behind schedule, they say they faced pressure to speed things along - particularly before conference season - and thus had to tunnel for 24 hours a day.
To do this, staffers said they would regularly work 12-hour shifts six or seven days a week - echoing statements already given to Nevada OSHA inspectors.
Musk's vision - aired in 2019 after he registered the Space X subsidiary as TBC: The Boring Company - forecast an additional 68 miles to run underneath Sin City's seminal strip
Five years in, those extensions remain little more than conjecture, and other subterranean tunnels in cities like LA and Chicago previously touted by the Tesla CEO have been called off
Those projects - which included a 'Dugout Loop' that would have brought residents to Dodger Stadium and a high-speed train that could have connected Chicago’s O'Hare Airport to its downtown - were enough to raise about $800million in funding
But the Las Vegas one is all that's left, and remains a far cry from the sprawling, citywide system Musk, 52, had promised
The Las Vegas Convention Center Loop today can handle up to 4,400 passengers per hour, OSHA’s report and staffers interviewed by Businessweek both stated - well short of the 90,000 passengers per hour forecast at full buildout
A forecast 81 medium-sized stations has also failed to come to fruition, with only three open to the public during conventions
The 2.4 miles seen today - 0.7 of which is not even open - still serves as well short of the exec's promises, by more than 65 miles and the fact the cars need drivers to operate them
In addition to the long hours, workers also cited faulty machinery and a lack of personal protective equipment, with a now-ex staffer claiming Boring 'was trying to do everything on the cheap.'
The complaint - which included eight citations issued to the company, mainly over workers being burned by accelerants in the concrete mix used during tunneling - is being contested by Sacramento-based JacksonLewis, which is representing The Boring Co amid the state agency's claims.
'In addition to TBC’s belief that Nevada OSHA has failed to establish that the alleged violations occurred, TBC contests all of the citations’ classifications.... and every other matter subject to contest,' Dale Kuykendall wrote in a letter to OSHA last year.
The agency, meanwhile, maintains 'the chemical mixture was inadvertently sprayed onto approximately 10-15 employees soaking through their work clothing, absorbing into the skin resulting in skin irritation, skin rashes, and skin chemical burns.'
The concrete mixture, investigators found, included various substances and chemicals including bentonite, fly ash, R 100 and Portland Cement - a concoction that can
