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The latest move by critics of SpaceX’s discharge of what they term “untreated industrial wastewater” at Boca Chica/Starbase is a request for a contested case hearing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality over TCEQ’s decision to grant the company a Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) permit.
The request was filed by the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, or STEJN, represented by Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, which filed the request on Dec. 26. STEJN argued that the permit allows the release of discharges that risk degrading the water quality in a fragile ecosystem “that serves as critical habitat for numerous species and is one of the last remaining pristine coastal green spaces in Texas.”
The water in question comes from the Boca Chica launch site’s water deluge system, designed to dampen the effects of rocket engine blast during liftoff and static-fire engine testing.
The aim of the requested hearing is to ensure that the permit adheres to federal and state law and that the best available science is used in the determining whether to issue a permit.
STEJN said issuance of a TPDES permit normally follows a rigorous, often months-long process to ensure that people and wildlife dependent on the relevant water resource are not adversely affected, and that TPDES permits “typically limit the volume of wastewater and the concentration of specific pollutants that can be released into the water.”
“Despite these requirements, TCEQ granted SpaceX’s permit in less than two months,” the group said. “TCEQ also neglected to impose significant limitations or restrictions on SpaceX’s wastewater discharge. This deficiency is concerning due to heavy metals and toxins in SpaceX’s discharge, allowing unlimited pollution into the water.”
Paola Camacho, TRLA attorney representing STEJN, said TCEQ’s granting of the permit fits into a “pattern unwavering favoritism toward SpaceX.”
“TCEQ has ignored the requirements of state and federal law, dismissing the concerns of hundreds of members of the public, and inadvertently sent a message to all Texans: Pollution in the name of profit is more important than protecting the people and the environment,” he said.
Once the TPDES permit is granted, those at risk from adverse impacts can challenge it in a contested case hearing.
In October, the environmental group Save RGV filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Brownsville Division, under the Clean Water Act (CWA), seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, the imposition of civil penalties and “other appropriate relief” to bring a halt to SpaceX’s “recurring, unpermitted discharges of untreated industrial wastewater from the deluge system at the SpaceX Boca Chica Launch Site into waters of the United States,” according to the suit.