Elon Musk’s wastewater plan riles up Bastrop residents

In October 2022, one of Elon Musk’s many Texas-based companies requested for a permit with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that is still riling up some Bastrop County residents. Filed by Gapped Bass LLC, an organization affiliated with Musk’s Boring Company, it would allow the tunneling operation to dump 142,500 gallons of processed wastewater into the Colorado River every day.

“There is a lot here that has happened to this river and this community,” one resident said. “We’ve been undermined. We need to have the right to have another public hearing and see what the long-term plans are.”

The public hearing revealed that “the effluent will be discharged directly to the Colorado River Below Lady Bird Lake/Town Lake in
Segment No. 1428 of the Colorado River Basin,” which is near the FM 969 bridge, according to TCEQ notes. A preliminary review by TCEQ did not find that plans for wastewater would affect water quality.

A representative for Musk’s companies appeared at the hearing, calling the wastewater dumping a “short-term solution,” and saying they hope to not “use the full capacity of what is being authorized.”

Still, Bastrop and Bastrop County residents have voiced concern over the plans, asking for more transparency from the Boring Company and SpaceX, who will both utilize the permit, if approved. Chap Ambrose, who has led the charge for transparency from Musk’s companies since the Boring Company installed a drilling test site adjacent to his property more than a year ago, is concerned for the health of his family.

“We have a well and we take baths and we drink that water every day,” Ambrose told KVUE this week. “So, if there’s a problem, I need to know quickly.” 

The permit is still not approved, but even if it is, Ambrose is worried that Musk’s companies might not comply with its limitations.

“I’m concerned they will not follow the terms of this permit,” he recently wrote on his website, Keep Bastrop Boring.

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