SpaceX’s Starship launches at the company’s Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas, have allegedly been polluting the local environment for years, possibly in violation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Act. for years. The news arrives in an exclusive CNBC report on August 12, which cites internal documents and communications between local Texas regulators and the EPA
SpaceX’s fourth Starship test launch in June was its most successful so far—but the world’s largest and most powerful rocket ever built continues to wreak havoc on nearby Texas communities, wildlife, and ecosystems. And after repeated admonishments, reviews, and ignored requests, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) have had enough.
The issues stem from a complaint filed to the TCEQ just over a year ago on August 6, 2023. The letter reportedly cited 14 separate incidents regarding “environmental impacts from the Facility’s deluge system” stemming from “discharging deluge water without TCEQ authorization.”
Water deluge systems work in tandem with flame deflectors to mitigate the intense heat, energy, and sound that accompany orbital rocket launches. Despite Starship possessing 33 methane- and liquid-oxygen fueled Raptor engines that generate a collective 16.7 million pounds of thrust, such a system was not installed at the Boca Chica Starbase before its first launch, although they are now in place. That test resulted in damages to local endangered species’ nesting and migration sites, as well as a 3.5-acre fire at Boca Chica State Park.
Ahead of its second launch, SpaceX reportedly bypassed regulatory permit processes regarding pollutant discharge limits, as well as failed to provide detailed explanations on how it planned to treat its wastewater. The EPA issued SpaceX
