Explosive Risk Causes RGV Community to Raise the Alarm about the Safety Risks of LNG & SpaceX

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 21, 2025

Contact: Bekah Hinojosa, bekah@sotxejn.org at 956-975-6634

Explosive Risk Causes RGV Community to Raise the Alarm about the Safety Risks of LNG & SpaceX

Local organizations and the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe sent public comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) urging it to address the explosion and safety risks of LNG and SpaceX.

Brownsville, TX—On Monday, the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, and Rio Grande Valley residents submitted public comments urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to address the safety and explosion risks of three LNG projects: Rio Grande LNG, Texas LNG, and the Rio Bravo Pipeline which are all located within a 6-mile radius of the flammable SpaceX facility that plans to launch 25 rockets per year.

FERC is accepting public comments until May 19th and re-reviewing the permits for these LNG projects as a result of a lawsuit victory from the Rio Grande Valley Organizations and the Tribe. Rio Grande Valley residents have expressed their concerns about these LNG projects posing a serious risk to safety and public health, and claim that regulatory agencies like FERC have not done their job to assess these risks.Additionally, the Rio Grande Valley organizations, the Tribe, and the Sierra Club submitted technical comments and formally intervened on the FERC LNG project and pipeline permit applications with the hopes of reserving  their right to file a lawsuit later. This is the third time that FERC has had to review the environmental and social risks of LNG, as they continue to fail the Rio Grande Valley community.

Additionally, the South Texas Environmental Justice Network and the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe filed a lawsuit against the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) last year, challenging the agency’s most recent decision to extend Texas LNG’s air pollution permit. The TCEQ has repeatedly extended the air quality “air pollution” permit for the Texas LNG project without adequately evaluating Texas LNG’s impacts on public health.

In response, Josette Angelique Hinojosa, with the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, issued the following statement:

“We’ve had to sue FERC twice for failing to address the environmental and public health impacts these LNG projects will have on our impoverished community. FERC is still failing us with this latest review process that didn’t provide a public hearing for the community and didn’t address the explosion risks of LNG and SpaceX rocket launches next door to Laguna Madre and Brownsville homes. We’ve made it clear that our community opposes LNG because it would be the biggest polluter of toxic air emissions in the Rio Grande Valley, and FERC’s latest draft environmental assessment failed to review the emissions once again.”

In response, Juan Mancias, the tribal chairman of the Carrizo /Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, issued the following statement:

“Once again, the FERC is not doing a full environmental review nor consultation with our Tribe, doing everything they can to give the LNG companies anything they want at the expense of our Tribe and our people. FERC and the LNG companies have never consulted with the Esto’k Gna Tribal Nation about the destruction they are doing to Native lands and our sacred sites. We will do everything we can to stop Texas LNG from destroying our sacred Garcia Pasture village and burial site. They have created division among the Indigenous communities in Texas due to their cross marketing by directing the attention to late comer Indigenous communities into Texas. ”

Background

For nearly a decade, nearby Rio Grande Valley communities and the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe have opposed the Rio Grande LNG, Texas LNG, and Rio Bravo Pipeline projects by filing lawsuits, protesting banks financing the projects, or passing anti-LNG resolutions. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) faces lawsuits for reapproving the LNG projects.

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South Texas Environmental Justice Network supports the leadership of frontline BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities. It includes numerous organizations, campaigns, individuals, and Tribal leadership from the South Texas region that work to build a future that centers on improving local communities’ social and environmental health. https://www.facebook.com/SOTXEJN

The Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas is the original native people from the Rio Grande Valley region of South Texas. To learn more about the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, visit http://www.carrizocomecrudonation.com.