Local residents are demanding that production is stopped at Tesla's plant in Gruenheide, near Berlin, after a fire broke out on the factory grounds.
Firefighters on Monday took five hours to extinguish the fire, with no injuries reported. The firefighters were called when 800 cubic meters (1,046 cubic yards) of cardboard, paper and wood scraps in an outdoor recycling space had caught fire, a spokesperson for the local fire department said.
Local environmentalists are worried that large amounts of firefighting water seeping into the ground could cause pollution.
"This incident joins a number of incidents that pose a threat to groundwater in the water conservation area," Manu Hoyer, spokesperson for the Gruenheide citizens' initiative and the Nature and Landscape Brandenburg association, told the Berliner Zeitung local newspaper.
A drone video shows that burning piles of cardboard were stored in what appear to be a paved area right next to unpaved ground. (See below).