BROWNSVILLE, Texas - A recent public hearing set by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality concerning a water discharge permit by SpaceX drew nothing but criticism from the public.
The meeting is a prelude of yet another hearing set for Nov. 14 about SpaceX applying for a different permit to discharge some 200,000 gallons a day of treated wastewater into South Bay – one of South Texas’ best and most popular spots for fishing enthusiasts, kayakers and boaters.
Each of the 30 of the 100 or so people who attended the Oct. 17 hearing asked the TCEQ representatives headed by Michael Sunderlin, a water quality expert, to deny the permit based on several claims. They said it would be detrimental to this region of the country.
No one spoke in favor of SpaceX’s plan.
Some of those who attended alleged SpaceX has been polluting the air, the grounds where endangered sea birds like the piping plover inhabit and now the waters.
Others, like Jim Chapman, an environmentalist with Save RGV, asked the TECQ panel why SpaceX continues to operate when the company is in violation of the Texas Clean Water Act.
The Oct. 17 meeting concerned a permit SpaceX has applied for to let the company discharge deluge, facility wash down and storm waters on an intermittent and flow variable basis via two outfalls.
Deluge water is used for launch and return to launch site activities.
At the meeting, held at the Brownsville Sports Complex Gymnasium, residents expressed surprise after hearing from a TCEQ panelist that harsh and harmful chemicals like copper and mercury are being detected and released from the SpaceX site.
At the Nov. 14 event, scheduled to take at Amigoland Events Cent on 1010 Mexico Boulevard in Brownsville, TCEQ will hold a public hearing about an application by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, “to authorize the discharge of treated domestic waste at a daily average of 200,000 gallons a day” from Rocket Road at Boca Chica.
The TECQ release further states the “treated wastewater will be discharged directly to South Bay in Segment No. 2493 of the Bays and Estuaries,” which is a designated as a “primary contact recreation and exceptional aquatics life use and oyster waters.”
A review has preliminarily determined that no significant degradation of water quality is expected in South Bay, TCEQ said.
But those accustomed to frequenting the bay are not buying it.
Tony Reisinger, a veteran marine biologist who now lives in Port Isabel and who attended the Oct. 17 meeting, said there are other alternatives to discharge wastewater.
“It could be dumped straight into the Rio Grande,” he said, “not in South Bay, a shallow area with a high salinity content.”
Reisinger said he enjoys watching the rocket launches but added he is also concerned about the evaporation from each take off.
Some of the attendees said that water would end up in the Mexican Gulf and make its way into South Bay during prevailing southeast winds and incoming tides.
Fishing guide Ernest Cisneros said he has been noticing that the water in South Bay has been getting murkier and murkier every time he goes there.
The TCEQ panel made no decision at the meeting, but it said it will mail a written response to all commentators and any person on the TCEQ mailing list.
Editor's Note: Here is a video recording of the remarks Valley Interfaith leader Adhlemy Sanchez made at the TCEQ hearing:
