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What Elon Musk Got Wrong About Why Federal Retirement Is Still Managed out of a Limestone Mine
The massive underground facility, which has been used to store archives since the 1960s, remains a crucial but convoluted hub for US government records.
While Musk’s comment about elevator dependency is overstated—the mine has many entrances and exits, as well as a road leading in and out that golf carts and other vehicles can drive on—his general point about inefficiencies within the federal retirement process is true. The Civil Service Commission, the predecessor of the OPM, started mailing retirement files to Boyers in 1960 with the intent to archive them “ forever.” The CSC was one of many agencies that took advantage of repurposed mines and caves during the Cold War, seeking enhanced protection for sensitive materials in the event of a nuclear catastrophe. Repurposed mines provide “excellent fire protection,” and immunity from events like “flood, theft, civil disorder, aircraft crashes, tornadoes, lightning,” noted a 1999 Iron Mountain presentation for the National Archives.
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