SpaceX’s Starship began its fourth test flight from the company’s Boca Chica launch pad near Brownsville, Texas, in this handout photo obtained on June 6, 2024. Starship is intended to eventually send astronauts to the moon and beyond.
SpaceX | via Reuters
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has repeatedly discharged pollutants into or near Texas waters, violating environmental regulations, state officials said in a notice of violation that focused on the water discharge system at the company’s StarBase launch facility.
The notice from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) last week came five months after the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 6, which oversees Texas and surrounding states, also notified SpaceX that it was violating the Clean Water Act through similar activities.
The notice and related investigative records obtained by CNBC have not been previously reported.
TCEQ said its office in Harlingen, South Texas, near Boca Chica Starbase, received a complaint on Aug. 6, 2023, alleging that SpaceX was “discharging floodwaters without TCEQ authorization.”
“The Harlingen area received a total of 14 complaints alleging environmental impacts from the facility’s water discharge system,” regulators said in a written statement.
Aerospace companies, including SpaceX, generally must comply with state and federal laws to receive approval from the Federal Aviation Administration for future launches. SpaceX was seeking permission to conduct up to 25 launches and landings per year of its Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket at its Boca Chica facility. The notice of violation could delay those approvals and lead to civil fines, further investigations and criminal charges against SpaceX.
In a lengthy post about the X after this article was published, SpaceX said regulators told the company it could continue launch operations despite the violation notice.
“Through ongoing coordination with TCEQ and EPA, we have specifically asked whether we should cease operations of the Deluge system and have been informed that operations can continue,” SpaceX wrote to EPA.
Neither regulator responded to CNBC’s questions about SpaceX’s statements.
Rushing to rebuild
On July 25, 2024, TCEQ environmental investigators “conducted an internal compliance records review” to determine SpaceX’s compliance with wastewater regulations. The investigation found that SpaceX had discharged industrial wastewater without a permit four times between March and July of this year.
A water system with flame deflectors would dissipate heat, sound and energy generated during orbital test flights and rocket launches, but SpaceX didn’t have one installed at its Boca Chica launch pad before it began test flights of Starship, the biggest rocket ever made.
SpaceX is developing Starship to transport people and equipment to the moon and, ultimately, Mars if Musk realizes his grand vision. During Starship’s first test flight in April 2023, the rocket’s energy exploded SpaceX’s concrete launch pad and the spacecraft exploded in mid-air.
Concrete chunks were thrown into nearby nesting and migration sites important to endangered species, sparking a fire that covered 3.5 acres of Boca Chica State Park south of the launch pad, and environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against SpaceX and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which gave the company permission to launch.
As Musk pushed for another orbital test flight within a month or two, SpaceX rushed to rebuild the launch pad, installing a new water-release system to prevent another explosion, and regulators say the company sidestepped permitting procedures that would have required it to meet pollution discharge limits and state how it would treat wastewater.
SpaceX conducted the first full pressure test of the water discharge system in July 2023. About a month later, on August 25, 2023, the EPA began an investigation and requested information from the company regarding wastewater discharges, among other matters.
The agency issued a formal notice of violation to SpaceX on March 13, according to records obtained by CNBC.
On March 14, SpaceX again used the unauthorized water spray system at the launch pad and went ahead with Starship’s third test flight, despite receiving notice from the EPA the previous day.
The company hit a new milestone with the test flight, and Musk appeared victorious: NASA Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated SpaceX, saying “Test flight was a success!”, even though the rocket was lost during descent over the Indian Ocean.
Eric Loesch, an environmental engineer who runs the business- and sustainability-focused ESG Hound blog, predicted that SpaceX would need a water-spraying system on its launch pad even before Starship’s first test flight, and was also one of the first to point out that SpaceX was using such a system without proper permits.
Continuing launch operations at StarBase would expose the company to greater legal risk after regulators told the company it was violating environmental regulations, Loesch said in an interview.
“Further wastewater discharges could give rise to further investigations and criminal charges against the company and those involved in the launch permit,” he said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday that it has not yet given SpaceX the go-ahead to conduct the next test flight of its Starship Super Heavy launch vehicle.
The Washington Post | The Washington Post | Getty Images
Long-standing violations
Loesch also noted that SpaceX was required to apply for a permit within 30 days of receiving the EPA’s notice of violation. The company didn’t submit its application until July 1, about 110 days later, according to a copy of the application available through the TCEQ’s public records office.
“They’ve been violating wastewater regulations for years and appear to be continuing to do so with permission from the FAA,” Roesch said.
SpaceX wrote in a statement Monday that the deluge system “poses no harm to the environment.” The company said other permits SpaceX has obtained authorize it to use the system.
Kenneth Teague, a coastal ecologist based outside Austin, reviewed SpaceX’s 483-page permit application. Teague, who has more than 30 years of experience in water quality and coastal planning, told CNBC that the application was riddled with holes, missing basic details like discharge volume, discharge temperature and the location of the outfall.
Teague said he was particularly concerned about the levels of mercury in wastewater discharged from SpaceX’s water discharge system. The levels revealed in the documents “significantly exceed mercury water quality standards,” he said.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, mercury is “one of the most serious contaminants threatening our nation’s waters because it is a potent neurotoxin to fish, wildlife, and humans.”
Teague said hot emissions and high levels of pollutants such as mercury could cause “significant adverse effects”, including killing “tiny creatures” that seabirds rely on for food.
“SpaceX’s application fails to address this very serious concern,” he said.
In its response to the X, SpaceX said the samples “did not contain detectable levels of mercury.” But under the heading “Specific Testing Requirements – Outlets Table 2: 001” in its July permit application, SpaceX listed mercury concentrations at one outfall as 113 micrograms per liter. State water quality standards require no more than 2.1 micrograms per liter for acute aquatic toxicity and much lower levels for human health effects.
In a separate post on X after the publication of this article, SpaceX said Tuesday that “there may be a typographical error in one of the tables” in the application that was submitted to and made public by TCEQ. The company said it was updating the application to correct the typographical error regarding mercury levels.
A TCEQ spokesperson said in an email to CNBC Tuesday afternoon that the matter is “pending enforcement action” and that the agency “cannot comment further at this time.”
CNBC reached out to the FAA on Friday. The agency did not comment on the matter, but announced on Monday that it was postponing a public meeting scheduled for this week for an environmental assessment of “SpaceX’s plans to increase launches and landings of its Starship/Super Heavy vehicles at Boca Chica Launch Site in Cameron County, Texas.”
The FAA did not give a reason for the delay and said a new date would be announced in the future.
See: Above the Clouds
