SpaceX slapped with multiple notices over water pollution in Texas

Now we are awaiting on Musk comments stating that he will move away from Texas...as it seems like every time he encounters a legal issue he just threatens to move his business away.

The Talking Tech said:

Now we are awaiting on Musk comments stating that he will move away from Texas...as it seems like every time he encounters a legal issue he just threatens to move his business away.

Click to expand...

Eventually, he will move his business away to Mars, no permits there (yet).

Like a high school physics teacher telling Einstein to do better.

The Talking Tech said:

Now we are awaiting on Musk comments stating that he will move away from Texas

Click to expand...

It's not Texas; it's the federal government. The last time they struck against Musk, the FAA grounded SpaceX for several months due to a launch burning an acre of wilderness scrubland near the launch site. Now, they're threatening to shut him down again because they found a few broken bird eggs near the site. (no, I'm not making that up)

There's also the DOJ lawsuit against SpaceX for irefusing to hire illegal aliens to work on classified missile programs -- despite that the federal government sets the same requirement, and originally demanded SpaceX do the same. And there's the FCC denying SpaceX's multi-billion dollar bid to provide rural communication services, based on the shady rationale that Starlink's 2021 bandwidth figures didn't meet requirements the FCC's 2025 requirements. So instead, the federal government will spend five times as much running fiber-optic cables over remote mountainous terrain.

The list goes on and on. It's also interesting to note that SpaceX **already** has multiple EPA permits for this launch site which include waste-water disposal rights. The EPA knew SpaceX was building this water-deluge system nearly a full year before its first use. Yet it waited until a month **after** that use to "open an investigation", and two months beyond that to tell SpaceX that it considered a separate permit to be required.

As for the nonsense that this new system is "polluting the waters" -- it does nothing but spray pure water on the pad during a launch -- the same pad that rainwater naturally flows over (and into the groundwater) every time it rains. And SpaceX has performed multiple tests by independent third-party laboratories. None have ever shown any trace of contamination.

Breaking news. Right wing outraged that EPA has temeirty enforces environmental protection. Trump seethes and vows to eliminate clean air and water so his toxic community may thrive better. Musk elated and hands him another $180 million.

Endymio said:

It's not Texas; it's the federal government. The last time they struck against Musk, the FAA grounded SpaceX for several months due to a launch burning an acre of wilderness scrubland near the launch site. Now, they're threatening to shut him down again because they found a few broken bird eggs near the site. (no, I'm not making that up)

There's also the DOJ lawsuit against SpaceX for irefusing to hire illegal aliens to work on classified missile programs -- despite that the federal government sets the same requirement, and originally demanded SpaceX do the same. And there's the FCC denying SpaceX's multi-billion dollar bid to provide rural communication services, based on the shady rationale that Starlink's 2021 bandwidth figures didn't meet requirements the FCC's 2025 requirements. So instead, the federal government will spend five times as much running fiber-optic cables over remote mountainous terrain.

The list goes on and on. It's also interesting to note that SpaceX **already** has multiple EPA permits for this launch site which include waste-water disposal rights. The EPA knew SpaceX was building this water-deluge system nearly a full year before its first use. Yet it waited until a month **after** that use to "open an investigation", and two months beyond that to tell SpaceX that it considered a separate permit to be required.

As for the nonsense that this new system is "polluting the waters" -- it does nothing but spray pure water on the pad during a launch -- the same pad that rainwater naturally flows over (and into the groundwater) every time it rains. And SpaceX has performed multiple tests by independent third-party laboratories. None have ever shown any trace of contamination.

Click to expand...

OOOPS! There you go again. Not digging far enough and misleading those who buy into your line of thought. Perhaps this will explain it to you, although, I don't doubt you'll fabricate something in your defense of your beloved God of Mars. - https://www.popsci.com/science/spacex-mercury-water-pollution/ And, of course, for you to pixx all over the federal government. Why yes, lets let everyone do as they damn well please. Who needs government regulations. People like Musk know what is best for us all and what we should tolerate in our air, water, on our land, etc. Its all a simple solution when everyone can do what they want, isn't it?

wiyosaya said:

OOOPS! There you go again. Not digging far enough and misleading those who buy into your line of thought. Perhaps this will explain it to you, although, I don't doubt you'll fabricate something in your defense of your beloved God of Mars. - https://www.popsci.com/science/spacex-mercury-water-pollution/

Click to expand...

Oops is right. You should read your own links before posting them:

"...One of the major initial concerns—the wastewater’s mercury content—stems from what experts believe may be egregious typos within SpaceX’s records. Lab reports indicate polluted waters containedof mercury, while subsequent summaries appear to misplace the decimal point to show 113 μg/L. If the former measurement is accurate, then Starship’s wastewater contains roughly 1/17th the legal mercury limit....."

In other words, someone forgot a decimal point when filing a report. And in fact, since that story was written, SpaceX confirmed the lower figure is accurate, by promulgating the actual lab test reports.

Oh, and to avoid you struggling with the math here, the mercury levels in their wastewater is 0.000000113 grams per Liter. Not only is this level well below the legal limit, it's actually far below levels found in human sewage, due to the mercury in everything you eat and drink. The level of mercury found naturally in a person's urine, for instance, can easily top 3 μg/L, for instance, or some 30 times higher.

Even worse is that the article confirms that SpaceX has for years been filing these wastewater test reports with the EPA. Yet the federal agency waited until March 13, 2024 to issue a "formal notice of violation". If the EPA felt that the new deluge system required a separate wastewater permit -- rather than those SpaceX already had for that site -- why wait so long to tell them?

Thanks for helping prove my point.

Anxious to see how this plays out. Ya can't be dumping pollutants

Nothing to see here folks! Texas don’t care much about pollution or care much about regulations.

Why do you think Musk head moved there?

Chris Hanson said:

Nothing to see here folks! Texas don’t care much about pollution or care much about regulations.

Click to expand...

Sorry to confuse you with the facts, but the water released is cleaner and less polluted than what many people drink in the US straight from their taps. And no law or regulation states that SpaceX's global site wastewater permit can't be used for this purpose, rather than a separate, special one some EPA bureaucrat decided was necessary -- after the system was already in place and operating.

If this were an agency interested in doing its job rather than harassing people for political purposes, it would have asked for a new permit immediately then, when the test results confirmed no problem, issued it. Instead, it waited nearly a year to ask, then, once the new application was filed, sourly reply: "sorry: too late." They'd probably decide to shut SpaceX down entirely, except NASA needs them to rescue the astronauts stranded by their horrendous decision to sign a contract with Boeing, rather than Musk.

But then hey, Boeing has the proper political views.

With Musk being such a "mental giant" he really can't claim he didn't know. They should increase the fine by 100X and make it stick ..... he's just another bum with too much power and money

Endymio said:

Oops is right. You should read your own links before posting them:

"...One of the major initial concerns—the wastewater’s mercury content—stems from what experts believe may be egregious typos within SpaceX’s records. Lab reports indicate polluted waters containedof mercury, while subsequent summaries appear to misplace the decimal point to show 113 μg/L. If the former measurement is accurate, then Starship’s wastewater contains roughly 1/17th the legal mercury limit....."

In other words, someone forgot a decimal point when filing a report. And in fact, since that story was written, SpaceX confirmed the lower figure is accurate, by promulgating the actual lab test reports.

Oh, and to avoid you struggling with the math here, the mercury levels in their wastewater is 0.000000113 grams per Liter. Not only is this level well below the legal limit, it's actually far below levels found in human sewage, due to the mercury in everything you eat and drink. The level of mercury found naturally in a person's urine, for instance, can easily top 3 μg/L, for instance, or some 30 times higher.

Even worse is that the article confirms that SpaceX has for years been filing these wastewater test reports with the EPA. Yet the federal agency waited until March 13, 2024 to issue a "formal notice of violation". If the EPA felt that the new deluge system required a separate wastewater permit -- rather than those SpaceX already had for that site -- why wait so long to tell them?

Thanks for helping prove my point.

Click to expand...

No just your usual concentrate on one cherry picked fact while ignoring at the points brought up in that report .

Even that point are are being deceitful as the report acknowledges that it could be an error, that Space X was slapdash in proofreading, they used egregious in the report
So your come back was nothing of the sort, and a big cherry picked deceit to fool us.

Can you please reconcile your concerns for birdlife with respect to wind turbines to your absolute uncaring concerns for wildlife and people in the neighbor hood of the launch.

Least you are consistent that Corporates need free reign to do as they please and victim blaming

Not sure why you are worried for Elon , a wet bus ticket at most
I didn't reply to your post the other day as more irrelevance and missed the point any reader would understand .
Things like this launch here that can break peoples windows on their home , hurricanes can cause stress,, PTSD and illness. Especially as they know it can happen again, How much of the violence in Haiti has a root in the devastation of multiple hurricanes.

If the launch was the one I think it was a night launch , it was extremely impressive video - you could hear the shockwaves on the video. That has to be very stressful for certain people and their pets living nearby, You would move your horses far way - imagine any horse owners if any - have long since moved

We have an application in NZ for another rocket launch site near a lagoon with lots of birds. See how that goes.
No site is without downsides, But SpaceX should follow rules as laid out. I can't discharge certain stuff into storm drains, or wash my car down with certain products , If the council is slow in following up , I don't get a free get out of jail card like you imply Elon should get with corporate lovefest

kiwigraeme said:

Even that point are are being deceitful as the report acknowledges that it could be an error, that Space X was slapdash in proofreading, they used egregious in the report
So your come back was nothing of the sort, and a big cherry picked deceit to fool us.

Click to expand...

Which part of "the water released is cleaner than that most people drink out of their taps" did you fail to understand? And nowhere in this TS article does it not the mercury levels were simply a typographical error, with no basis in fact.

kiwigraeme said:

Things like this launch here that can break peoples windows on their home , hurricanes can cause stress,,

Click to expand...

LOL, talk about a false turn into deep left field. No "windows are being broken" by this water deluge system, nor even the launches themselves. And while hurricanes can indeed "cause stress", you'll be happy to know we're expected to experience some 30% less of them due to a warmer climate. 30% less stress is a good thing.

kiwigraeme said:

SpaceX should follow rules as laid out. I can't discharge certain stuff into storm drains

Click to expand...

Again: SpaceX already had a preexisting wastewater use permit for this site. The EPA demanded he get a NEW one, because of this deluge system -- despite the fact that the launch pad being cooled by it was already being regularly washed down, with that water flowing into the same storm drains.

Thou shalt worship Elon. See no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil for He is rich and arrogant.