Texas regulators cleared Tesla's lithium refinery of permit violations in February, but independent lab testing commissioned this month found hexavalent chromium and arsenic in the wastewater the company discharges — neither permitted under Tesla's state permit. The drainage district that manages the ditch has demanded Tesla stop discharging until the state reviews the findings; Tesla says it remains in full compliance. The mismatch reveals a regulatory blind spot: TCEQ's February compliance check didn't look for heavy metals because the district's initial complaint didn't mention them, and Tesla's own initial sampling apparently cleared the metals but was never flagged as needing permit amendment. What's missing: whether Tesla's initial sampling actually detected these metals and if so why TCEQ approved the permit without restrictions, or whether the metals are new byproducts of operational changes since the plant began operation.