Tesla's lithium refinery discharges 231,000 gallons of polluted wastewater a day
Summary
Tesla's Robstown lithium refinery has been discharging 231,000 gallons of black wastewater daily into a ditch, a finding uncovered by a local drainage district. Independent lab results detected hexavalent chromium and elevated lithium along with other indicators, while regulators found no permit violations for those pollutants. Tesla disputes the testing method and regulatory scope, raising concerns about environmental promises, regulatory gaps, and the resilience of the domestic EV supply chain.