SpaceX Launch Facility — Local services in Port Isabel

This is a letter to the editor of the McAllen Monitor about this horrible place: In mid-April I read the front-page article extolling the SpaceX launch site as an area tourist attraction; however, there is more than the glitz and glamour of space travel involved and especially for those who live and work nearby or visit the beaches, parks and refuges. Some might even call SpaceX an eco-apocalypse for our coastal region.

There have now been multiple explosions during testing of SpaceX larger prototypes and locals are becoming increasingly concerned as to whether SpaceX values the natural resources of the area, its population and its established ecotourism and fishing/shrimping industries. Now, Space X wants to modify its existing permit with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the continued development of the SpaceX vertical launch area with the expansion and addition of test, orbital and landing pads, integration towers, associated infrastructure, storm water management features and vehicle parking. Does this newest modified permit also include the additional oil/gas wells that Elon Musk wants to drill there, which have been reported?

On April 7, the EPA sent a letter to the USACE that the “SpaceX project may have substantial and unacceptable adverse impacts on aquatic resources of national importance and recommended the denial of the SpaceX project as currently proposed.”

This is due to some of the below concerns:

1. Numerous project modifications that have been requested over the course of the project history.

2. No clarity as to the final scope of a single and complete project for the proposed modification.

3. Based on project history, there are concerns that future activities, not yet disclosed, may further impact aquatic resources.

4. Aquatic resources that were previously identified as avoided and used as justification during prior alternative analyses are now being identified for impact in the proposed permit modification.

5. Based upon the numerous prior modifications to the compensatory mitigation for prior impacts, the EPA is concerned with the ability to provide adequate compensation —- in perpetuity.

6. As the project site has evolved, including size and type of testing occurring, the scope of the previous environmental impact statement completed by the Federal Aviation Administration in 2014 may not be consistent with the scope of the current activities.

Does it appear Musk’s strategy and actions in our RGV reflect that it’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission? Or can’t I hand in my final project papers whenever I want?

As an educator, I find SpaceX evident business regulatory strategies alarming, especially when we consider that SpaceX is bordered by some of the most sensitive wetlands and coastal lands in our area.

Diane...

It's not every day you can see pivotal progress in human history. Except here. Every day workers and engineers are hard at work building the next generation of rockets that will take humans to the Moon and Mars. Starships and Super Heavy boosters are under construction at the assembly facility down the street. They are rolled over to the launch site for testing. You can see giant leaps forward (and a few steps back) if you come here for launches. The freedom here is amazing. You can drive right up to the facility and take pictures or just watch the ships under construction. Just stay on the opposite side of the street and they don't mind. Even if they do SpaceX security is very polite. It's best to watch launches from South Padre Island, or from Rocket Ranch take a pontoon boat ride down the Rio Grande to the edge of the exclusion zone. Even when there's no testing going on this is a beautiful beach with sand dunes and sunrises. You can drive on the beach and have a bonfire. A lot of people show up for the launches or just to check things out, talk about oxidizer/fuel combinations and thermodynamics. If you're into that sort of thing this is the perfect place to...

More harm than good!! This place is NOT what many say; our environment and FAMILY should matter too. Isn’t greed/power what causes problems?!! Why Brownsville?? Other places are proof this is NOT it. Don’t even try to argue with SO CALLED PROGRESS. REMEMBER not everyone is in the same situation. If you have it great be thankful, but think about others around you. STOP being selfish by pretending this isn’t bad for some residents (or the REAL reason this company is even here). Have you taken the time to listen?? We should NOT only care about progress but people too. Some LONG TIME residents of Brownsville are now struggling. :(

REMEMBER, nobody is immune to life’s struggles (NO MATTER WHAT COMPANY YOU WORK FOR). If you lost your job big companies like this one wouldn’t care; so please speak the whole truth and not just bits; it’s time to look out for each other. Big companies keep filling up their pockets while we are left to struggle. This...