SpaceX Sued Over Wastewater Discharges at Texas Launch Site (1)

The environmental group Save RGV filed suit against SpaceX on Wednesday alleging Elon Musk’s company discharged unpermitted effluent at its Boca Chica launch site near Brownsville, Texas.

The group is asking a judge to enjoin SpaceX from using a cooling system that the company installed to prevent a launch pad explosion, called a “deluge” system in the lawsuit, until it gets a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit under the Clean Water Act.

The lawsuit is asking the court to assess penalties of up to $56,460 per day per violation against the company.

The deluge system has polluted surrounding wetlands at least 13 times without a permit, violating the Clean Water Act each time, Save RGV alleges in its lawsuit.

The deluge system has the capacity to discharge 360,000 gallons of water per launch. The suit alleges that SpaceX’s 2023 launch of its Starship rocket led to its launch pad exploding, sending debris into wild areas managed by the state of Texas, and leading to the company’s installation of the deluge system.

SpaceX said in an X post that Texas state regulators have allowed the company to run the system after they determined that it uses potable water that doesn’t pose a risk to the environment. The company said Save RGV is aware of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s review but nonetheless filed an “unwarranted and frivolous” lawsuit.

However, Save RGV claims that high heat during each test allows aluminum, arsenic, zinc, mercury, and other metals to “ablate” from the launch site, and the deluge system washes the metals into the surrounding area, contaminating it.

The TCEQ didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, and the Environmental Protection Agency declined to comment.

Save RGV is represented by Perales, Allmon & Ice PC in Austin.

The case is Save RGV v. Space Exploration Technologies Corp., S.D. Tex., No. 1:24-cv-00148, 10/9/24.