TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — A lawsuit filed Monday in Travis County District Court claims the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) bypassed its wastewater dispersal permitting process for Space Exploration Technologies Corp.’s (SpaceX) Cameron County launch facility.
The SpaceX launch facility is located between a wildlife refuge and a wildlife management area. is also approximately three miles from the mouth of the Rio Grande.
A “deluge system” was installed after an April 2023 SpaceX spacecraft launch exploded the facility’s launch pad. That system can rapidly release 358,000 gallons of water in a half-mile radius from the launch site, according to the lawsuit.
While SpaceX is not listed as a defendant in the lawsuit, KXAN reached out to the private space technology company. However, other companies owned by Elon Musk rarely issue statements to the media. Since 2008, SpaceX has received $2.87 billion of taxpayer money in contracts.
Skipping the process?
Due to the facility’s location, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told SpaceX in March 2024 that using the deluge system broke federal law and that it would need to submit to a permitting process by authorities.
The lawsuit claims that SpaceX continued to use the system several times before submitting an application.
“Despite EPA’s compliance order and related communications, SpaceX proceeded with multiple static fire tests and a launch on June 6, 2024, knowing that use of deluge system constituted a violation of the requirement it obtain an individual permit,” the lawsuit reads.
The TCEQ’s five-day June investigation into the situation found that SpaceX had improperly discharged industrial wastewater at least four times, according to the investigator’s report.
“Discharges from the Facility are expected to contain total dissolved solids, nitrate-nitrogen, phosphorus, total dissolved solids, sulfate, chloride, fluoride, aluminum, cadmium, chromium, copper, cyanide, and zinc,” the TCEQ investigator noted.
The investigator notified SpaceX of its violations of Texas law, and the company finally submitted its permit application the next day, according to TCEQ.
TCEQ, SpaceX make a deal
TCEQ executive director Kelly Keel and SpaceX agreed to a $3,750 fine, and the TCEQ commissioners approved that agreement on November 14.
“[SpaceX] paid $3,000 of the penalty and $750 is deferred contingent upon the Respondent’s timely and satisfactory compliance with all the terms of this Order,” the agreement reads.
The lawsuit, brought by the Carrizo Comecrudo Nation of Texas, Save RGV (Rio Grande Valley) and the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, claims that TCEQ allowed SpaceX to continue using the system while the permit remains pending. SpaceX conducted launches on Oct. 13 and Nov. 19.
“The Commission acted outside its authority when it bypassed the…permitting requirements and used the Agreed Order to authorize future discharges in lieu of an individual permit,” the lawsuit reads.
A TCEQ media relations specialist told KXAN Wednesday that the agency could not comment on pending litigation.
“The decision was in excess of the agency’s statutory authority; it was made through unlawful procedure; it was affected by error of law; it was arbitrary and capricious and characterized by an abuse of discretion,” the lawsuit reads.
The plaintiffs previously brought a lawsuit against the U.S. Federal Aviation Agency for its role in the April 2023 explosion.