Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN) and two contractors are facing a lawsuit in federal court brought by a Georgia resident who claims muddy runoff from the construction site of Rivian’s future factory has choked streams and ponds downstream in violation of federal environmental law.
The filing presents another potential legal hurdle for the EV startup, which has faced stiff resistance from some local residents since announcing plans to build a factory a year and a half ago.
The complaint was filed last week in the Middle District of Georgia by Julie Jenkins of Morgan County, who oversees a family trust that sold some of its land to the state for the Rivian project. She and her family still own other properties near the 2,000-acre site of the future factory.
“I do not have a problem with electric vehicles or economic development in appropriate places if done in a good way,” Jenkins said in a statement. “However, Rivian and the contractors working on this project have shown disregard for the environment of our rural area, including our fields, forests, and streams.”
In addition to Rivian, the complaint names Thomas & Hutton, and Plateau Excavation Inc. engineering firms enlisted to clear and grade land for the company’s $5 billion EV plant.
The problems allegedly began last October, shortly after Plateau began clearing a 737-acre portion of the site. A rainstorm sent mud from the site spilling into Rawlings Branch, a stream connected to the Oconee River. Farther downstream, Rawlings flows onto the Jenkins’ property and as a result, the suit claims the family’s land was left a muddy mess.
Plateau self-reported a dirt discharge from that October storm and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) later issued a notice of violation against the company for beginning grading before adequate sediment controls were in place, but they were not fined.
The lawsuit says that heavy precipitation events continue to send more mud into Rawlings Branch and onto the Jenkins’ property. And because Rawlings Branch is a perennial stream qualifying as “waters of the United States,” the complaint claims the runoff pollution constitutes a violation of the federal Clean Water Act.
Shares of RIVN are up 0.90% in pre-market trading on Wednesday.