BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Elon Musk’s SpaceX is facing a lawsuit from an environmental group based in Brownsville that alleges the company polluted local waters.

What You Need To Know

  • South Texas environmental group Save RGV is suing Elon Musk's SpaceX

  • Save RGV alleges that the company polluted wetlands near Boca Chica Beach in Brownsville and violated the Clean Water Act through its deluge system

  • Save RGV is asking a judge to prohibit SpaceX from using its deluge system until it gets a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit under the Clean Water Act. The group is also seeking penalties of up to $56,460 per day, per violation

  • SpaceX called Save RGV’s lawsuit “unwarranted and frivolous” and said TCEQ determined the deluge system doesn’t pose a risk to the environment

Save RGV alleges in the lawsuit that SpaceX polluted surrounding wetlands near Boca Chica Beach — where the company’s Starbase launch site sits — at least 13 times using its deluge system and, in doing so, violated the Clean Water Act.

SpaceX has said that the deluge system releases water during launches to cool the area and prevent an explosion, but Save RGV says that the high heat results in debris from metals like aluminum, arsenic, zinc and mercury contaminating the area.

Save RGV is asking a judge to prohibit SpaceX from using the deluge system until it gets a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit under the Clean Water Act. The group is also seeking penalties of up to $56,460 per day, per violation.

In a post on X, the social media platform also owned by Musk, SpaceX said that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) determined the deluge system doesn’t pose a risk to the environment.

“We have express permission from TCEQ to run the system now under the conditions of the consent order, and a closeout letter from the EPA on its administrative order,” the statement read.

The company called Save RGV’s lawsuit “unwarranted and frivolous.”

In August, SpaceX countered a report from TCEQ saying that the company polluted the South Texas waters on four separate occasions.

SpaceX’s swift development in the Rio Grande Valley city in recent years has been a controversial topic for residents, some who welcome the changes and others who feel ignored and unheard by local politicians who allow them.

The City of Brownsville issued a PSA to residents on Thursday about a potential SpaceX launch on Sunday between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. The company still does not have a license from the Federal Aviation Administration that would allow it to conduct the launch. The city asks residents to sign up for emergency alerts to be notified of the launch status.

In July, Musk announced plans to move Starbase headquarters from California to Brownsville in response to California Gov. Gavin Newsom signing a bill that would ban schools from disclosing a student’s gender identity or sexual orientation without the student's permission.