LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Workers in The Boring Company's Las Vegas tunnels reported chemical burns to Nevada OSHA as far back as 2023 — predating the burns Clark County firefighters reported.
More than two years later, the citations issued in response have yet to be resolved — due to extensive OSHA Review Board backlog — and the company is not legally required to make changes in the meantime.
Watch Geneva Zoltek's latest Boring Company follow up here:
According to OSHA reports, the problem comes down to worker exposure to a chemical called MasterRoc AGA 41S, which is a "grout accelerant" used in tunnelling. The product is known to result in serious eye irritation as well as cracking or drying of the skin caused by chemical burns.
A June 6, 2023, Complaint Log describes multiple hazards: employees connecting hoses to burrowing machines and suffering chemical burns, 15 to 20 workers hurt, no showers available for those who were sprayed, and unguarded exposure to mining waste.
Here's the entry:
Check out the entire log, which does include other complaints from other companies, here.
OSHA investigated and issued eight serious citations, with fines totaling $112,504. The complaint was closed on 10/30/2023. The Boring Company is fighting the charges by contesting the case.
A cited employer is not required to fix the identified hazards after contesting. The case is set to be heard by the OSHA Review Board — though a date has not yet been set — and it's been more than two full years since the citations were issued.
“The case with the eight citations was supposed to be heard at the February meeting. However, it's going to be continued because there was a conflict that the Boring Company's attorney could not make it for the date," Nevada OSHA Administrator Victoria Carreon said, confirming the delay during a legislative hearing earlier this month.
Last year, ten OSHA Review Board meetings were cancelled — about 50% of those scheduled. Two board vacancies remain open. Within meeting minutes, members alluded to dealing with quorum issues.
"We have a very lengthy lapse time currently. I think it's over 400 days," Carreon said.
Despite the pending case, chemical burn reports by workers kept appearing in OSHA injury logs through November of 2023.
You can check them out here:
Then, at the end of 2024, two firefighters were burned by the same "accelerant", which would "rain down" in the tunnels, according to OSHA records.
As we reported, new "willful" citations were then issued to The Boring Company with fines of more than $400,000. Those fines were later dropped in their entirety.
Jordan Barab, a former federal OSHA administrator, said the legal structure of the contest process creates a window in which workers remain unprotected.
"During the whole time that a citation is under contest, the employer is not obligated to fix any health and safety problems OSHA identified. If it takes months or years, workers may spend months or years in the same unsafe conditions," Barab said.
Barab also raised questions about the handling of the separate set of citations tied to the 2024 firefighter injuries.
"We need to be able to understand why OSHA completely eliminated the violations," Barab said.
"It's not unusual for them to downgrade a 'willful' violation to 'serious,' but it's very unusual to take a 'willful' violation and get rid of the entire violation," Barab said.
He said last week's CASPA released by the Federal Branch of OSHA skims over major questions at large.
"It's just kind of a joke," Barab said.
"With allegations that serious of political influence, no explanation for eliminating the citations, for documents disappearing. It's kind of unbelievable that such a short and superficial report would be would be issued based on the allegations that we've seen," he continued.
The Boring Company did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.
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