Bastrop proposes wastewater deal with Elon Musk’s The Boring Company

The companies originally wanted to dump over 100,000 gallons of treated wastewater into the Colorado River every day.

Bastrop city leaders have reached a deal that may provide a solution to a controversial proposal. The Central Texas city is doing everything to avoid two of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s companies dumping thousands of gallons of treated wastewater into the Colorado River. 

Musk has been making moves into Central Texas in recent years, and Bastrop is no exception. The city has become home to two of Musk’s companies: The Boring Company and SpaceX, plus The Boring Bodega that sits across from Musk’s land in the city. But in October 2022, The Boring Company filed a request for a permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to dump up to 142,500 gallons of treated wastewater into the Colorado River on a daily basis.

This move brought opposition from many Bastrop residents, one of whom even created a campaign to “Keep Bastrop Boring” to address safety concerns around The Boring Company’s plans in the area. The Boring Company builds underground transportation, utility, and freight tunnels.

Now, the City of Bastrop has reached a deal with The Boring Company and SpaceX, which also has operations in the area, to redirect the hundreds of thousands of gallons of wastewater to a wastewater treatment facility that the city plans to open in the next month, according to KVUE. The new wastewater building will be located between the Colorado River and Highway 304 just south of Griesenbeck Ranch Road. 

KVUE reports that Musk’s land on FM 1209 and FM 969 will eventually be connected to the wastewater facility by early 2026.

City leaders brought the agreement to The Boring Company and utility provider Corix to a Tuesday, March 26, meeting, and though the parties seemed to agree on the deal, it will be officially decided at next month’s meeting, KVUE reports.