Tesla chemical spill: Palo Alto apologizes for delay in notifying residents

PALO ALTO, Calif. (KGO) — Tesla’s chemical leak is being investigated in Palo Alto.

Officials say more A 900 gallon solution rescued from storm drains.

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On October 17, Palo Alto resident Mike Hedlom captured this video of neon green liquid outside a Tesla research facility.

“I was pretty sure it was probably coolant or brake fluid or something like that, but that still wasn’t what was supposed to be in the groove,” Hedlom said.

Hedlom reported this to the city.

The Office of Emergency Services said a type of chemical used to cool the Tesla AI Supercomputer was released into sewers, gutters and Matadero Creek.

This was apparently caused by an error while the crew was evacuating the Tesla system.

The city says the solution poses no risk to life or health.

“It’s not that bad, but I still didn’t know what it was, and we definitely don’t want that in the creeks because everything here flows into the bay,” Hedlom said.

Last Tuesday, Carl Templeton heard from a neighbor wondering why work crews were cleaning up Matadero Creek. Templeton said after consulting with the city and Valley Water, the city notified residents of the chemical spill the next day, but that was five days after it was reported. Templeton is running for the Palo City Council seat.

“I think this needs to happen sooner rather than later, and I think it needs to be done proactively by the city, not as a result of people trying to investigate on their own,” Templeton said.

On Friday, the city released the following statement:

“Looking back and appreciating the input received since then, our staff recognizes that we should have notified the public sooner. We apologize for our delay in making notifications.”

The municipality says that in addition to cleaning, the cause is also being investigated. Storing sodium hydroxide requires a city permit, which Tesla does not have.

We spoke with Lauren Weston, Executive Director of the environmental nonprofit Actera.

“We just want to make sure that our communities are safe and that companies have an obligation to take care of our communities; they’re sharing our backyard, we need to know that they’re doing the best they can to keep our communities and our planet safe,” Weston said.

The city said the latest round of testing is ongoing and results are expected to take at least a week.