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Soylent CEO Rob Rhinehart with an early iteration of Soylent.
Rhinehart, who founded the futuristic meal replacement company, owns a shipping container (which Rhinehart calls an "eco home") that sits on a hill called the Flat Top in Los Angeles. Not only are local residents are not happy with the state of the shipping container, Rhinehart might now be facing criminal charges from the city.
According to Curbed Los Angeles writer Elijah Chiland:
"Alexander Moffat, a senior inspector in the city's department of building, says Rinehart has refused to comply with an order to remove the container. (In June, the department cited Rhinehart for having an 'abandoned or vacant building open to the public.') Now his department is asking the city attorney's office to file criminal charges."
The container is clearly in rough shape - the windows have been smashed in and according to recent photos, it's covered in tags and graffiti - and it doesn't appear to be an "eco home" at all. In fact, one local resident speculated to Curbed that the container isn's secured, so it could roll down the hill in the event of an earthquake.
Rhinehart told Curbed that he does plan to move the container at some point, but hasn't given a definite date yet and might even buy more plots of land on the hill.
When reached for comment, Soylent said is doesn't comment on employee's personal affairs and did not respond to a request to make Rhinehart available for comment.
Head over to Curbed for more on the dispute, plus photos of Rhinehart's 4th of July party at the container, which featured an entire roasted pig.