Chemicals spill at Tesla battery factory; no serious injuries

A hazardous material spill at Tesla Inc's Gigafactory battery plant in Nevada is investigated by emergency workers but there are no serious injuries, the company says.(photo grabbed from Reuters video)
A hazardous material spill at Tesla Inc’s Gigafactory battery plant in Nevada is investigated by emergency workers but there are no serious injuries, the company says.(Grabbed from Reuters video)

NEVADA, United States (Reuters) — A hazardous material spill at Tesla Inc’s Gigafactory battery plant in Nevada on Monday (April 17) was being investigated by emergency workers but there were no serious injuries, the company said.

Tesla spokesperson Dave Arnold said a drum of “standard construction cleaning solvent” was spilled at a loading dock and a small area of the building was evacuated.

“Out of an abundance of caution, a couple of employees who may have been exposed are being transferred to the local hospital,” said Arnold.

He said Tesla anticipated no effect on production.

The factory outside of Sparks, Nevada, has not yet been completed but production has begun on lithium-ion battery cells to be used in Tesla’s energy storage products and upcoming Model 3 sedan.