In a rare move, the governor’s office has declined an invitation from the chair of the Legislature’s Interim Committee on Growth and Infrastructure to provide more details about the regulation of Elon Musk’s controversial Boring Co. project in Southern Nevada. 

In the Jan. 22 letter, the governor’s office “respectfully declines” Assm. Howard Watts’ (D-Las Vegas) invitation to answer questions during the upcoming Feb. 3 interim committee meeting related to regulation of the company. The letter, signed by Gov. Joe Lombardo’s Chief of Staff Ryan Cherry, comes as the state’s handling of a Boring case has become a point of attack by Democratic opponents in Lombardo's re-election bid. 

“It’s really disappointing,” said Watts, who chairs the interim committee. “People want answers.” 

Cherry instead referred to a Nov. 19 statement issued by the Department of Business and Industry that establishes “the State’s position on this matter,” rendering participation in the upcoming meeting “unnecessary.”  

The November statement addressed accusations, reported by Fortune, that fines against Boring had been dismissed because of political influence from the governor. The department called the charge a “growing and misguided attempt to paint this as a process tainted by political interference,” and that the fines had been dismissed because the citations were improperly submitted. 

The Boring Co. is building a privately owned transportation tunnel system under Las Vegas called the Vegas Loop. The Loop currently services eight stations but is planning to expand to 104 stations with about 68 miles of tunnels. 

The company has come under fire for being accused of nearly 800 environmental regulation violations, as well as exposing firefighters to “toxic muck” that peeled off their skin, resulting in two firefighters being sent to the hospital. 

To date, Watts said The Boring Co. has never paid a “single dime” in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines. The Boring Co. is privately held and does not need to disclose financial information nor does it have a market valuation, though it had raised $675 million in funding in 2022.

Other agencies involved in the fallout from the project, including the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) and the Division of Industrial Relations’ Department of Business and Industry, which oversees OSHA, will be on hand to field questions during the meeting. 

“The agencies tasked with enforcing our state’s laws and regulations — and the decision-makers at those agencies — have specific, first-hand knowledge relevant to how they regulate The Boring Company,” Cherry wrote in the letter. “There is nothing that our Office can offer — in terms of relevant, helpful information — that cannot be provided by the state agencies you have also invited.” 

The governor’s office and The Boring Co. did not reply to a request for an interview from The Nevada Independent before deadline. 

‘A pattern of violations and abuses’

Watts said he had sent out the request asking someone from the governor’s office to attend the meeting earlier this year. The denial letter, he said, came as a surprise. Watts said it was the first time someone has “flat rejected” a request to speak, though sometimes officials might decline to comment on an issue that’s subject to pending litigation. 

Aside from the letter, Watts said he hasn’t heard from the governor’s office. 

“There is a pattern of violations and abuses that go back years,” Watts said of the company. “I am not satisfied with that, I wanted to ask, ‘Are they satisfied with that?’” 

Watts said most of the information coming out about The Boring Co. has come from the press, not the government, and he wanted more information. Earlier this month, Watts, alongside Sen. Fabian Doñate (D-Las Vegas), sent a letter to NDEP requesting further environmental inspection of The Boring Co., citing concerns about the safety of the company’s practices. 

“The bottom line is keeping workers and residents safe,” Watts said. “We want to make sure our state agencies are holding this company accountable and that they’re playing by the rules, and by their special set of rules.”