Ebb on construction site in Grünheide: utility turns Tesla off the water

Several reminders, reminders and a threat of blocking remain unanswered. Now the Strausberg-Erkner water association is taking drastic measures: the construction site for the Tesla factory in Grünheide is ebbing. Special regulations "for anyone" would not be accepted.

The Strausberg-Erkner water association (WSE) has turned off the water on the construction site for the Tesla factory near Berlin. As a result, it is currently not possible to continue building. The US company did not pay its water bill, a spokeswoman said. The WSE did not provide any information about the outstanding invoice amounts. Accordingly, several reminders, reminders and a threat of blocking with a 14-day period remained unanswered. According to the spokeswoman, the measure is also intended as a warning to the client that there are "no special regulations for anyone".

It was not until Wednesday night, after several weeks of delay, that Tesla signed a development contract with the water association, thereby clearing an important hurdle for the factory's approval. The contract concerns the water supply and sewage disposal for the first stage of the factory expansion. On the part of the water supplier, the document was ready to be signed in mid-September, but the company did not sign until a month later for unknown reasons, the spokeswoman said.

Tesla had lowered its forecast water consumption at its peak after criticism from 3.3 million to around 1.4 million cubic meters per year. The contract stipulates development costs and pipeline routes. In Grünheide, Tesla wants to start producing electric cars this summer. In a first stage, the US group is planning 500,000 electric cars per year with around 12,000 employees.

Environmentalists and residents fear negative consequences for nature and groundwater from the construction. The environmental approval for the project by the state of Brandenburg is still pending, but Tesla is already building with preliminary permits for individual construction steps. The documents for the development plan of the Grünheide community already contain further expansion stages.

. (tagsToTranslate) Economy (t) Tesla Motors (t) Brandenburg (t) Electric cars (t) Water supply