Elon Musk's spacecraft company says they "fundamentally disagree with the allegations."
SpaceX has been ordered to pay up a six-figure sum over pollutants the company is accused of spitting into wetlands bordering its launch facility in South Texas.
The Environmental Protection Agency fined Elon Musk's spacecraft company $148,378 for a 2022 liquid oxygen spill and for discharging gallons of deluge water to wetlands near its launch pad in recent months. The wetlands affected have a continuous surface connection to the Rio Grande and are considered protected navigable waters. As the EPA noted, those discharges require a specific permit that SpaceX lacked.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality previously fined SpaceX almost $4,000 for the discharges stemming from its water deluge system, also known as a "flame deflector."
The flame defector is a critical piece that protects against the heat and force of Starship when it launches. Its steel plate underneath the rocket uses water to cool and helps prevent incidents such as one seen in the first flight attempt, when the concrete material from the launch pad cracked.
Upon the first full test of the system last summer, SpaceX had received three stormwater permit authorizations, but none for industrial wastewater. TCEQ recommends applications for an industrial wastewater permit be submitted at least 330 days in advance. If granted, treatment and safe disposal of the wastewater is required.
While some of the water from the system is ultimately vaporized by heat and aerodynamic forces when the rocket's engines are firing, the remaining substances end up in the surrounding wetlands. The EPA says that across seven separate instances between July 2023 to June 2024, SpaceX discharged approximately 261,700 gallons from the water deluge system to the wetlands.
The EPA noted that the deluge water is industrial process wastewater, which environmental expert Eric Roesch has described as a regulated pollutant that can mix with silt and chemicals and harm biological integrity. But SpaceX, which has reportedly made park and wildlife officials feel misled in the past, continues to deny that the water is such.
In a statement this week, SpaceX said it chose to settle so it could focus on its missions. "Paying fines is extremely disappointing when we fundamentally disagree with the allegations," SpaceX wrote.
SpaceX held a similar attitude on an industrial wastewater permit it applied for in July, saying its operations have "little to nothing in common" with the discharges covered by such permits.
Lately, SpaceX is being forced to weigh environmental concerns before pushing through plans, including an aggressive launch schedule of 25 times a year and even its upcoming fifth test flight. On Tuesday, SpaceX shared that Starship is grounded until at least November while officials look into the impact the next launch's sonic boom could have on surrounding wildlife.