Elon Musk's SpaceX has violated environmental rules by repeatedly dumping pollutants into or near waters in Texas, a government agency said in a notice of violation targeting the company's flood control system at its Starbase launch site.
Last week's notice from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) came five months after the Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 office, which covers Texas and surrounding states, also notified SpaceX that it was violating the Clean Water Act with the same type of activity.
The announcements and accompanying research data, obtained by CNBC, have not been previously reported.
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 "discharged floodwater without TCEQ's permission."
"In total, the Harlingen region has received 14 complaints about alleged environmental impacts of the installation's flash flood system," the regulator said in the document.
Aerospace companies, including SpaceX, generally must comply with state and federal laws to obtain approval from the Federal Aviation Administration for future launches. SpaceX requested permission to conduct up to 25 annual launches and landings of its Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket at its Boca Chica facility. Notices of violation could delay those approvals and result in civil penalties for SpaceX, further investigations and criminal charges.
In a lengthy post on X following the publication of this story, SpaceX reported that regulators have informed the company it can continue launch operations despite the violation notices.
"During our ongoing coordination with both TCEQ and the EPA, we specifically requested that the Flood System be suspended and were informed that operations could continue," SpaceX wrote on X.
Neither regulator answered questions from CNBC about SpaceX's statement.
A rush to rebuild
On July 25, 2024, a TCEQ environmental investigator conducted an internal compliance records review to determine whether SpaceX was in compliance with wastewater regulations. The investigation found that SpaceX discharged industrial wastewater without a permit four times between March and July of this year.
Flame deflector water flooding systems dissipate the heat, noise and energy generated by orbital test flights and rocket launches. But SpaceX didn't install the system at its Boca Chica launch site before it began test flights of its largest rocket ever, Starship.
SpaceX is developing Starship to ferry people and equipment to the moon and, if Musk eventually realizes his grand vision, to colonize Mars. During Starship's first test flight in April 2023, the rocket's energy caused SpaceX's concrete launch pad to explode, and the spacecraft also blew up in midair.
Chunks of concrete were thrown into a nesting and migration site important to several endangered species in the area, and a nine-acre fire is burning through Boca Chica State Park land south of the launch pad. In response, environmental groups filed a lawsuit against SpaceX and the FAA, which authorized the launches.
With Musk pushing for another orbital test flight within one to two months, SpaceX rushed to rebuild the launch pad and install a new water-flooding system to prevent it from exploding again. Regulators say the company skirted a permitting process that would have required it to meet limits on pollutant emissions and how it would treat its wastewater.
SpaceX conducted the first full pressure test of its water flooding system in July 2023. About a month later, on August 25, 2023, the EPA launched an investigation, asking the company for information about its wastewater discharges and more.
According to documents obtained by CNBC, the agency sent a formal notice of violation to SpaceX on March 13.
On March 14, despite receiving a notice from the EPA the day before, SpaceX went ahead with the third test flight of Starship, again using the launch site's unauthorized flooding system.
The company reached new milestones with the test flight, and Musk seemed triumphant. NASA chief Bill Nelson congratulated SpaceX on "a successful test flight!" even though the rocket was lost during descent over the Indian Ocean.
Environmental engineer Eric Roesch, whose ESG Hound blog focuses on business and sustainability, predicted that SpaceX would need a water flooding system on the launch pad even before Starship's first test flight. He was also among the first to call out SpaceX for using such a system without proper permits.
After regulators notified SpaceX that the company was in violation of environmental regulations, continuing launch activities at Starbase put the company at greater legal risk, Roesch said in an interview.
"Further discharges of wastewater could lead to further investigations and criminal charges against the company or individuals involved in authorizing the launches," he said.
Years of violations
Roesch also pointed out that after SpaceX received a notice of violation from the EPA, it had to apply for a permit within 30 days. The company didn't file its application until July 1, about 110 days later, according to a copy of the application made available through the TCEQ's public records.
"They have been violating wastewater regulations for years and they continue to do so with FAA approval," Roesch said.
SpaceX wrote in a statement Monday that the Flood system "will not cause any harm to the environment." The company said other permits SpaceX has obtained serve as authorization for its use.
Kenneth Teague, a coastal ecologist based outside Austin, reviewed SpaceX's 483-page permit application. Teague, who has more than three decades of experience in water quality and coastal planning, told CNBC that the application was riddled with holes and lacked basic data on water discharge volumes, effluent temperatures and discharge locations.
Teague said he is particularly concerned about the concentration of mercury in the wastewater from the SpaceX water flooding system. The levels disclosed in the document represent "very large exceedances of the mercury water quality criteria," Teague said.
According to the US Geological Survey, mercury is "one of the most serious pollutants threatening our nation's waters, as it is a potent neurological toxin to fish, wildlife and people."
Teague said high-temperature discharges and pollutants such as mercury in high concentrations could have "significant negative impacts," including the extinction of the "little critters" that make up the seabirds' diet.
"The SpaceX application does not address this very serious problem," he said.
SpaceX said in its response to X that "no detectable levels of mercury" were found in its samples. But SpaceX wrote in its permit application that its mercury concentration at one discharge site was 113 micrograms per liter. State water quality standards require levels no higher than 2.1 micrograms per liter for acute aquatic toxicity and much lower levels for human health.
CNBC reached out to the FAA on Friday. The agency did not comment for this story, but announced Monday that it was postponing public meetings that had been scheduled for this week. The meetings were for an environmental review of "SpaceX's plan to increase launches and landings of its Starship/Super Heavy vehicles scheduled to be launched at the Boca Chica Launch Site in Cameron County, Texas."
The FAA gave no reason for the delay and said new dates will be announced in the future.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com