A federal investigation is underway after Nevada’s safety regulator suddenly dropped violations against Boring Company

A few weeks ago, I filled you in on our latest reporting on Elon Musk’s $5.6 billion tunneling startup, the Boring Company. You may recall that Nevada’s state safety regulator had issued three “willful” citations against Boring Company, after a training drill during which two firefighters suffered burns at a Boring site. The citations prompted Boring Co. President Steve Davis to call up a former Tesla policy guy who now works in Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo’s office. Within 24 hours of that phone call, Boring executives had set up a meeting with senior regulators in the state, and the citations had been withdrawn. 

The withdrawal of the citations (which Nevada OSHA maintains was due to the violations not meeting legal requirements) was never documented in OSHA’s case file, and a public record that had referenced the meeting was altered. (State officials and regulators say that no supervisor ever gave direction to delete the record of the meeting.) 

A few weeks after all that transpired, Boring Company was caught illegally dumping wastewater into manholes around Las Vegas. One Boring manager was specifically called out in documents, as he apparently “feigned compliance” with county inspectors, only to start dumping the waste again as soon as he thought inspectors had left the site.

Both of these stories have caused somewhat of an uproar in Las Vegas. Residents have been asking their representatives about it at town halls and meetings. And Nevada Congresswoman Dina Titus sent a demand letter to Governor Lombardo, urging him to hold Elon Musk’s tunneling company accountable, make the company’s meetings with Nevada OSHA public, and answer a series of questions about how the investigation was handled. 

Now, as I reported this week, federal OSHA has opened an investigation into Nevada’s state OSHA plan. Federal OSHA received what’s called a “CASPA” complaint, a Complaint About State Plan Administration, after our story, and the agency decided it warranted a federal review. 

These investigations are a big deal and are meant to evaluate whether a state plan is at least as effective as federal OSHA—a requirement under U.S. law. The last time Nevada OSHA received this level of federal (and public) scrutiny was in 2008, when the Las Vegas Sun reported on the high death rate among construction workers at the Las Vegas Strip amid lax enforcement of regulations at Nevada OSHA. Federal regulators launched a “special study” into Nevada OSHA the following year, which found “a number of serious concerns” in the program and led to corrections in oversight and changes to its program.

We’ll be closely tracking the findings of this investigation once federal OSHA finishes its review.

Until then, thanks for following along. 

Jessica Mathews
X: @jessicakmathews
Email: [email protected]

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VENTURE DEALS

– Radiant, an El Segundo, Calif.-based developer of a portable nuclear microreactor designed to replace diesel generators, raised $300 million in Series D funding. Draper Associates and Boost VC led the round and were joined by others.

– Ben, a London, U.K.-based employee benefits platform, raised $27.5 million in funding. Mercia Ventures led the round and was joined by existing investors Atomico, Cherry Ventures, DN Capital, and others.

– Ankar, a London, U.K.-based AI-powered operating system for patents, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Atomico led the round and was joined by Index Ventures, Norrsken and Daphni.

– HEN Technologies, a Hayward, Calif.-based developer of intelligent fire defense technology, raised $20 million in Series A funding. O’Neil Strategic Capital led the round and was joined by NSFO, Tanas Capital, and Z21 Ventures.

– Arcads.ai, a San Francisco-based AI-powered platform designed for generating marketing videos, raised $16 million in seed funding. Eurazeo led the round and was joined by Alpha Intelligence Capital and others.

– Clarity Pediatrics, a San Francisco-based telehealth platform for pediatric chronic care, raised $14.5 million in Series A funding. Jackson Square Ventures led the round and was joined by City Light Capital, MassMutual Catalyst Fund II, GingerBread Capital, and others.

– Wearlinq, a San Francisco-based developer of a wireless cardiac monitor, raised $14 million in Series A funding. AIX Ventures led the round and was joined by SpringTide, Berkeley Catalyst Fund, Lightscape Partners, Amino Capital, and others.

– Roamless, a San Francisco-based global mobile network operator, raised $12 million in Series A funding from Shorooq, Revo Capital, Finberg, and JIMCO.

– AIR, a New York City-based AI-powered credit intelligence platform, raised $6.1 million in seed funding. Work-Bench Ventures and Lerer Hippeau led the round.

PRIVATE EQUITY

– GI Partners agreed to acquire Netwatch, a Lake Forest, Calif.-based provider of AI-powered security services. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

– Initial Group, backed by TPG, acquired Silver Tribe Media, a Los Angeles, Calif. and New York City-based platform for building YouTube and podcast businesses. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– ProSites, backed by Rockbridge Growth Equity, acquired GeniusVets, a San Diego, Calif.-based veterinary marketing and engagement company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– StayTerra, backed by Garnett Station Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners, acquired a majority stake in Cape & Coast Premier Properties, a Cape San Blas, Fla.-based luxury vacation rental management company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– TA Associates acquired a majority stake in PairSoft, a Miami, Fla.-based provider of procure-to-pay automation and payment solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– Wateralia, backed by Ambienta, acquired Aquatec, a Victoria, Australia-based water and wastewater management company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

EXITS

– IFS agreed to acquire Softeon, a Reston, Va.-based warehouse management software company, from Warburg Pincus. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– TJC acquired Lindsay Precast, a Gainesville, Fla.-based manufacturer of prefabricated concrete and steel products, from MiddleGround Capital. Financial terms were not disclosed.

IPOS

– Andersen Group, a San Francisco-based tax and financial advisory firm, raised $176 million in an offering of 11 million shares priced at $16 on the New York Stock Exchange.

FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS

– Highland Rim Capital, a Nashville, Tenn.-based private equity firm, raised $208 million for its debut fund focused on manufacturing, distribution, and business service companies. 

PEOPLE

– Autotech Ventures, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital firm, hired Mike Abbott as a venture partner. Formerly, he was with General Motors. The firm also promoted David Le to operating partner.

– General Atlantic, a New York City-based private equity firm, promoted Cornelia Gomez, Hilary Lindemann, Ryan McGrath, Ben Newman, Sudeep Poddar, and Varun Talukdar.