tldr; No one asked for a Vegas loop. No one wanted a "Vegas Loop".
Useful transit around the strip would be useful (subways, trams). This isn't.
And it's poisoning and killing us
A Vegas loop solves no problems for anyone.
and it's releasing toxic chemicals that have actually burned specialist personnel in Las Vegas.
STOP THE LOOP.

Underground in Vegas: The Boring Company's Trail of Injuries, Violations, and Broken Promises

[.lead] Safety incidents, regulatory failures, and questions about whether Elon Musk's tunnel project actually solves anything

Beneath the neon glow of the Las Vegas Strip, Elon Musk's Boring Company has been digging. Since 2019, the tunneling venture has promised to revolutionize urban transportation with an underground network of Tesla-shuttling tunnels called the Vegas Loop. The vision is ambitious: 68 miles of tunnels, over 100 stations, connecting casinos, the airport, and Allegiant Stadium.[1] But as the project expands, a troubling pattern has emerged of worker injuries, environmental violations, regulatory evasion, and fundamental questions about whether the system can actually move enough people to matter.

The most disturbing revelations came in late 2024 and 2025, when firefighters training for emergency rescues in the tunnels suffered chemical burns that left permanent scars, workers continued reporting serious injuries, and regulators levied hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines—some of which mysteriously vanished after a phone call to the governor's office.

Firefighters Scarred During Training Exercise

In December 2024, the Clark County Fire Department conducted a two-day emergency rescue drill in the Boring Company tunnels. The preparation had been extensive—five planning meetings, detailed scripts, and a 200-pound mannequin positioned deep in the tunnel to simulate a difficult evacuation.footnote:fortune-firefighters[Jessica Mathews, "Two firefighters suffered chemical burns in a Boring Co. tunnel. Then the Nevada Governor's office got involved, and the penalties disappeared," Fortune, November 12, 2025.] What no one adequately prepared for was the toxic muck.

The tunnels contain pools of slurry—a mixture of groundwater, dirt, and a chemical accelerant called MasterRoc AGA 41S used to harden concrete tunnel linings. This caustic mixture can reach depths of 15 inches in some areas.[2] According to reporting by Fortune magazine, Boring Company workers had attempted to clear the muck before the firefighters arrived, but complete removal proved impossible. As one former employee explained, "there's no way to fully clean it, because there's constant flow coming out of the machine, even when it's standing still."[3]

On the second day of the drill, December 10, complications ensued. Firefighters reported that their boots filled with muck. After the drill concluded, several developed skin irritation. Two were transported to a hospital where they were diagnosed with chemical burns. According to Fortune's investigation, those injuries left permanent scars.[4] The firefighters had not been adequately warned about the chemical hazards they would encounter, with OSHA documents noting they were briefed on one type of accelerant but not other hazards like "slurry raining down from the ceiling" or the chemicals present in the muck they would crawl through.[2]

A Pattern of Worker Injuries

The firefighter incident was not an aberration. Boring Company employees had been suffering chemical burns for years. Fortune's investigation documented 42 worker injuries reported to OSHA in 2023 alone, including burns and rashes caused by the tunnel accelerants.[5] One employee described the chemical exposure in stark terms: the accelerant "gets in deep—third-degree-burn type stuff; it's not a joke... If you don't get up in there and get it cleaned off with neutralizers, it'll just continue to burn... Once it gets in there, it's going to eat."[5]

Workers told investigators they routinely had the chemical mixture soak through their clothes. Two employees were sprayed in the face and eyes. A former safety manager described the conditions as "almost unbearable" and wrote in an internal email that the company had "consistently flirted with death."[6] In April 2024, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health named the Boring Company among the "Dirty Dozen" worst workplace safety offenders in the United States.[7]

The injuries have continued. In September 2024, a worker's pelvis was crushed in an incident that briefly halted construction.[4] Another employee was shocked by an electrical panel. Current and former employees describe a "cowboy" culture regarding safety protocols, where speed takes precedence over worker protection.[3]

Fines Issued, Then Made to Disappear

When Nevada OSHA investigated the firefighter burn incident, inspectors issued three "willful" violations—the most serious classification available—and proposed fines totaling more than $425,000. A willful citation indicates the employer knowingly failed to comply with legal requirements or showed plain indifference to safety. The fines were issued on May 28, 2025.[7]

The next day, they vanished. According to Fortune's reporting, Boring Company president Steve Davis called the Governor's office the same day the citations were issued. He spoke with Chris Reilly, Governor Joe Lombardo's point person for state infrastructure—a former Tesla employee of seven years. By the following afternoon, a meeting was convened that included the Governor's infrastructure coordinator, the director of the Department of Business and Industry, and supervisory staff from Nevada OSHA. The citations were withdrawn before the meeting even formally began.[3] State officials later claimed the citations had been found "legally insufficient," though critics noted the unusual speed and process.[8]

A retired firefighter and battalion chief with 32 years of service called the decision "deeply alarming," noting that "the Boring Company blamed the firefighters for their injuries. If that's not passing the buck, then I don't know what is."[9] Nevada Democrats accused the governor's office of providing special treatment to the world's richest man.[8] A document in the case file was altered to remove evidence of the meeting between Boring Company leaders and state officials; the information was restored only after Fortune pointed out the change.[4]

Environmental Violations Mount

The safety issues extend beyond worker injuries. In October 2025, the Clark County Water Reclamation District fined the Boring Company nearly $500,000 for illegally dumping drilling fluids into the public sewer system.[10] Inspectors documented workers pumping toxic fluids directly into manholes without the required pretreatment. When regulators issued a cease-and-desist order, a Boring Company superintendent allegedly "feigned compliance"—removing illegal connections while inspectors watched, then reinstalling them after assuming officials had left. The regulator's letter stated that "TBC's brazen refusal to stop its illicit discharges after being caught in the act, coupled with false statements to District inspectors, proves TBC's activities to be knowing and intentional."[10]

State regulators have cited the company for nearly 800 environmental violations, including 689 missed mandatory site inspections, beginning excavation before permits were finalized, and failing to hire required independent environmental managers.[11] Regulators initially considered penalties exceeding $3 million but ultimately assessed roughly $500,000.[12] A mysterious green pond that appeared at a construction site sparked additional concerns about contamination reaching the water supply, though the company maintains that's impossible given the depth of drilling.[2]

Does the Vegas Loop Actually Solve Anything?

Even setting aside the safety and environmental concerns, transportation experts question whether the Vegas Loop addresses any real urban mobility problem. The system currently operates just 2.2 miles of tunnel with five stations. Since opening in 2021, it has transported roughly three million passengers—a number critics note is far less than any true mass transit system would see.[13] The peak hourly ridership ever demonstrated was around 1,355 passengers, far short of the 4,400 per hour promised in the original contract.[14]

The Boring Company projects the completed Vegas Loop will move 90,000 passengers per hour.[15] But transit experts are skeptical. Jarrett Walker, a prominent transit consultant, has long criticized the fundamental concept: individual cars in tunnels simply cannot achieve the capacity of real mass transit. A single subway car carries more passengers than dozens of Teslas. The Vegas Loop may transport passengers faster than walking, but it does so one to four people at a time.[16]

Nicholas Irwin, a UNLV economics professor specializing in housing, observed that "research does support that there is value in being near transit, but it's always public transit, not a private subway system."[13] The Vegas Loop operates more like an underground taxi network than a citywide transportation solution.

Critics also worry about opportunity cost. The narrow tunnels Boring Company is building—about one-third the excavated volume of a standard subway tunnel—will occupy valuable underground real estate beneath public streets. This "warren of too-small tunnels," Walker argues, "will have the effect of preventing a properly scaled subway from ever being built because its path will be blocked."[16]

The Road Ahead

The Boring Company continues expanding. Tunnel boring machines are drilling toward new casino stations, and the company has begun testing autonomous vehicles—though still with a driver ready to take over.[17] Local officials have expressed hope that the system will reduce congestion and signal that Las Vegas is a tech-forward city. Yet the pattern of safety incidents, environmental violations, and regulatory favoritism raises serious questions about whether the promise is worth the price.

State lawmaker Edgar Flores has publicly questioned whether Las Vegas should remain "all-in" with the Boring Company.[11] Congresswoman Dina Titus has demanded answers about "why [constituent] health and safety are being put at risk by a lack of state regulation."[2] The Sierra Club has vowed to oppose any expansion beyond Las Vegas.[11] And somewhere beneath the Strip, pools of caustic muck continue to accumulate, waiting for the next worker—or firefighter—who wades in unprepared.

What began as Elon Musk's solution to "soul-crushing traffic" has instead crushed pelvises, burned skin, poisoned sewers, and left firefighters permanently scarred. Elon's loop must stop immediately.

References

https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/we-will-own-our-mistakes-boring-co-president-addresses-multiple-vegas-loop-construction-violations-3609172/