CNBC reported the industry leading commercial launcher has violated basic water treatment regulations with its Starship deluge system in Starbase, Texas. While SpaceX has denied the report, the FAA has postponed its environmental review public meetings for an unknown reason, and both Texas and Federal agencies have reported violations per CNBC.
Monday afternoon CNBC’s Lora Kolodny released a report detailing SpaceX’s violation of the Clean Water Act by releasing industrial waste water through its launch pad deluge system at Starbase, Texas. CNBC cited non-public reports by both the Environmental Protection Agency (federal) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
Starship’s deluge system was quickly built after the company’s first, rather problematic, launch in April 2023. After that launch, chunks of concrete were propelled into the surrounding wetlands, Gulf of Mexico, and even fine particles found their way to nearby South Padre Island. The debate now is who is correct, CNBC with its two reports or SpaceX’s comment that it was given permission.
CNBC’s report states the TCEQ notified SpaceX of its violation last week for waste water dumping into the protected lands around its Starship launch site. The same report cited a violation notification by the EPA five months earlier about the same deluge water dump.
One thing that isn’t clear is if the illegal dump was during a deluge system test or a launch. Environmental engineer ESG Hound, who has discussed this issue long before anyone else has, explains that even heating water higher than the surrounding water’s average temperature is considered “waste water.”
CNBC reached out to the FAA, who authorizes Starship launches, for comment about the violations as a company cannot be approved for launches if its breaking environmental laws. The agency didn’t respond to the comment but it did cancel its remaining public hearing meetings on SpaceX’s hope to launch up to 25 Starships and land 50 times (25 Starships and 25 Superheavy boosters) at Starbase and will reschedule them at a future date.
SpaceX did not respond directly to CNBC but made a long post on Musk’s social media site, X, claiming its inaccuracies. It claims the dumps and the construction of its deluge system were approved by the TCEQ. It also claims that the water used in its deluge system only uses potable drinking water and that it does not fall under waste water when dumped into surrounding waters.
For context, this wouldn’t be the first time Musk has done something before getting approval from a federal or state agency. He has regularly complained about the unnecessary red tape in most sectors he operates in. It’s well known that Starbase is a “move fast and break things” environment, so building infrastructure and conducting tests before legal approval wouldn’t be shocking to anyone.
Also, another one of Musk’s companies, The Boring Company, received a fine for the exact same thing in June. That isn’t it, when Musk changed the name of Twitter to X (in what I still believe is the worst marketing decision ever), the city shutdown workers removing the Twitter sign for not having the correct permits.
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