April 17, 2024
South Texas Environmental Justice Network:
The Army Corps of Engineers again failed the Rio Grande Valley community by approving a permit to SpaceX that would allow the rocket company to destroy more wetlands on Boca Chica Beach. In their letter notifying the community of their decision, the Army Corps refused to host a public hearing for the community about the harms SpaceX has caused to the environment and Native sacred sites. The agency refused to translate any information into Spanish and refused to consult with the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribal Nation (Esto’k Gna), whom SpaceX’s operations impact. The Army Corps of Engineers also admitted that SpaceX had violated the Clean Water Act and destroyed wetlands without authorization. The Corps’ willingness to look the other way as SpaceX fills wetlands without authorization effectively allows for the expansion to move forward without following the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or the Clean Water Act. Not only that, but their denial of a public hearing conceals the fact that SpaceX continues its pattern of piecemeal harm to the environment, asking for permits later. In this case, the Corps was all too happy to oblige without SpaceX’s behavior seeing the light of day.
This is the latest example of an ongoing pattern of government officials willing to look the other way as SpaceX continues to use Boca Chica Beach and the surrounding area as its playground. US Fish and Wildlife Service has expressed concerns in the past–to both the Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)– regarding the impacts of SpaceX activities on the surrounding sensitive ecology, but SpaceX activities continue unabated, causing damage to these once natural areas that had been protected, until SpaceX arrived. Public access to the Beach is cut off whenever SpaceX requests closure from the Cameron County Judge, violating Texans’ constitutional right to public beach access.
It is no surprise, then, that the Corps belatedly discovered that SpaceX had already filled wetlands without authorization, and yet, the Corps determined that a public hearing was not necessary because it is “unlikely that any new information would have been gained by holding a public hearing.” It’s time that these government agencies pay attention to the on-the-ground experts–the RGV community–who are all too familiar with what is being lost to SpaceX and its activities.
Rio Grande Valley community organizations and residents and the Esto’k Gna will continue to do everything we can to protect our ecosystems, sacred lands, and neighborhoods from SpaceX’s flammable rocket debris.