A state environmental regulator in Texas stated in a notification that Elon Musk’s aerospace company had released contaminants into or near bodies of water in violation of environmental standards.
In a notice of violation centered on the business’s water deluge system at its Starbase launch site, a state regulator stated that Elon Musk’s SpaceX has frequently released contaminants into or near bodies of water in Texas, in violation of environmental standards.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 6 office, which oversees Texas and the neighboring states, notified SpaceX that it had violated the Clean Water Act five months before with the warning from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) last week.
None of the notifications or the associated investigative data that CNBC was able to collect had been published before.
According to TCEQ, on August 6, 2023, a complaint was received by the agency’s office in the South Texas city of Harlingen, which is close to Starbase in Boca Chica. The complaint said that SpaceX “was discharging deluge water without TCEQ authorization.”
According to the paper, the regulator, “the Harlingen region received 14 complaints alleging environmental impacts from the Facility’s deluge system.”
The Federal Aviation Administration often requires aerospace businesses, like SpaceX, to comply with both state and federal standards in order to be approved for future launches. Permission to launch and land its Starship spaceship and Super Heavy rocket at its Boca Chica site up to 25 times a year was sought by SpaceX. Notifications of violations might impede these approvals, subject SpaceX to civil monetary fines, further investigations, and criminal prosecutions.
After this report was published, SpaceX wrote a lengthy post on X stating that authorities had informed the business that it could proceed with launch operations even if it has received violation notices.
SpaceX said on X, “We have explicitly asked if operation of the deluge system needed to stop throughout our ongoing coordination with both TCEQ and the EPA, and we were informed that operations could continue.”
In response to CNBC’s inquiries concerning SpaceX’s assertion, neither regulator responded.
A hasty reconstruction
A TCEQ environmental inspector “conducted an in-house compliance record review” on July 25, 2024, to ascertain if SpaceX complied with wastewater rules. According to the study, SpaceX released industrial wastewater four times this year, from March to July, without a permission.
Systems for dispersing heat, sound, and energy produced by rocket launches and orbital test flights employ flame deflectors in conjunction with water deluges. However, SpaceX did not incorporate that mechanism into its Boca Chica launch pad prior to starting Starship, the biggest rocket ever, test flights.
SpaceX is creating Starship to carry people and supplies to the moon and, should Musk’s ambitious plan come to pass, to inhabit Mars. SpaceX’s concrete launchpad exploded in April 2023 during the company’s maiden Starship test flight, and the spaceship burst apart mid-air due to rocket energy.
Concrete pieces were thrown into a neighboring nesting and migratory area that is significant to a few endangered species, and a 3.5-acre fire tore across the land of Boca Chica State Park south of the launchpad. Environmental organizations retaliated by suing SpaceX and the FAA, which had approved its flights.
Musk was pressuring SpaceX to conduct another orbital test flight in the next month or two, so the company hurriedly rebuilt the launchpad and added a new water deluge system to prevent another explosion. Regulators claim that the firm circumvented a permitting procedure that would have forced it to disclose its wastewater treatment plan and adhere to pollutant discharge limitations.
In July 2023, SpaceX tested the water deluge system at full pressure for the first time. A little over a month later, on August 25, 2023, the EPA opened an investigation and asked the business for details on its wastewater releases, among other things.
As to CNBC’s archives, the EPA formally sent SpaceX a notice of infringement on March 13.
SpaceX proceeded with its third Starship test flight on March 14 in spite of having received the EPA notice the day before, once more utilizing their unapproved water deluge system at the launch pad.
With the test flight, the corporation achieved new heights, and Musk looked victorious. Despite the rocket being lost during its fall over the Indian Ocean, NASA administrator Bill Nelson hailed SpaceX on “a successful test flight!”
Even before the first Starship test flight, environmental engineer Eric Roesch, whose ESG Hound blog focuses on business and sustainability, projected SpaceX would require a water deluge system at the launchpad. He was also one of the first to criticize SpaceX for operating a system like that without the required authorization.
According to Roesch, SpaceX faced increased legal risk when it carried out launch operations at Starbase after the authorities notified it that it was in breach of environmental standards.
He warned that “further wastewater discharges could trigger more criminal charges and investigations against the company and any of the individuals involved in authorizing the launches.”
Years of transgressions
Roesch also brought up the fact that SpaceX had 30 days to submit a permit application following the EPA’s notice of violation. A copy of the company’s application that was made accessible through the TCEQ public records office states that the application was not submitted until July 1, or approximately 110 days later.
According to Roesch, “they’ve been breaking wastewater regulations for years, and they seem to be doing so with the FAA’s approval.”
SpaceX claimed in a statement released on Monday that the deluge system “causes no harm to the environment.” According to the corporation, clearance for its usage comes from various permits that SpaceX has secured.
A marine biologist outside of Austin named Kenneth Teague reviewed the 483-page SpaceX permission application. With over thirty years of experience in both water quality and coastal planning, Teague told CNBC that the application was devoid of critical information, including outfall sites, effluent temperature, and water discharge quantities.
Teague expressed particular worry on the amount of mercury present in the effluent originating from the SpaceX water deluge system. According to Teague, the amounts shown in the paper constitute “very large exceedances of the mercury water quality criteria.”
Mercury is “one of the most serious contaminants threatening our nation’s waters because it is a potent neurological poison in fish, wildlife, and humans,” according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
High temperature discharges and high concentrations of contaminants like mercury, according to Teague, might have “significant negative impacts” such as eradicating the “little critters” that seagulls eat.
He stated, “This is a very serious concern that is not addressed by the SpaceX application.”
In their answer on X, SpaceX stated that its samples contained “no detectable levels of mercury.” However, SpaceX said in their application for a permit that the amount of mercury present at one outfall point was 113 micrograms per liter. The state’s water quality standards stipulate that acute aquatic toxicity levels cannot exceed 2.1 micrograms per liter, while values that are far lower are acceptable for human health.
The FAA was contacted by CNBC on Friday. The agency stated on Monday that it is postponing public meetings that were scheduled for this week, but it did not respond to a request for comment for this article. “SpaceX’s plan to increase the launches and landings of its Starship/Super Heavy vehicles scheduled at the Boca Chica Launch Site in Cameron County, Texas” was the subject of the environmental assessment sessions.
The FAA stated that new dates will be published in the future but did not give a rationale for the postponements.
