Is SpaceX Polluting Texas Waters? SpaceX Responds To Allegations

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, also known as TCEQ, is accusing Elon Musk's Space X of "repeatedly releasing pollutants into or near bodies of water in Texas", according to a report this week from CNBC.

The complaints seem to focus on the company's deluge water system. The complaints from TCEQ also come after the Environmental Protection Agency accused SpaceX of violating the Clean Water Act.

Is SpaceX Polluting Texas Waters?

According to CNBC, SpaceX is being accused of discharging water without authorization from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

TCEQ said its agency’s office in the South Texas city of Harlingen, near Starbase in Boca Chica, received a complaint on Aug. 6, 2023, alleging that SpaceX “was discharging deluge water without TCEQ authorization.”

“In total, the Harlingen region received 14 complaints alleging environmental impacts from the Facility’s deluge system,” the regulator said in the document.

According to CNBC, aerospace companies, including SpaceX, need to be compliant with state and federal laws and regulations otherwise future launches could be delayed.

SpaceX Responds to Allegations

SpaceX took to X (formally Twitter) to respond to the CNBC and the allegations. SpaceX says that CNBC's story on the Starship's launch operations are "factually inaccurate".

SpaceX also said that they have worked with both the EPA and TCEQ and that the EPA revised their position and allowed operations to continue. In the post, SpaceX writes that both the EPA and TCEQ have allowed continued operations because the "deluge system has always complied with common conditions set by and Individual Permit, and causes no harm to the environment".