This year, SpaceX was found to have consistently contaminated the waters in Texas, according to regulators.

• Last week, the Texas environmental agency stated that SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, violated environmental regulations by releasing pollutants into or near bodies of water in Texas.
• The TCEQ released its report five months after the EPA informed SpaceX of its Clean Water Act violation.
• The potential violations could hinder SpaceX's aspirations to intensify Startship launches from its Starbase site in South Texas.

The Starbase launch facility of SpaceX in Texas was found to be violating environmental regulations due to the release of pollutants into or near bodies of water by the company's water deluge system.

The TCEQ issued a notice last week, five months after the EPA Region 6 office informed SpaceX of a Clean Water Act violation with the same activity.

CNBC has obtained notices and investigative records that have not been previously reported.

On August 6, 2023, TCEQ's office in Harlingen, near Starbase in Boca Chica, received a complaint accusing SpaceX of discharging deluge water without TCEQ's authorization.

The regulator stated in the document that the Harlingen region received a total of 14 complaints accusing the Facility's deluge system of causing environmental harm.

To obtain approval from the Federal Aviation Administration for future launches, aerospace companies, including SpaceX, must comply with state and federal laws. SpaceX was requesting permission to conduct up to 25 annual launches and landings of its Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket at its Boca Chica facility. Notices of violation could cause delays in approvals and result in civil monetary penalties, investigations, and potential criminal charges for SpaceX.

SpaceX didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

A rush to rebuild

An environmental investigator from TCEQ conducted an in-house review of SpaceX's compliance records on July 25, 2024, and discovered that the company had discharged industrial wastewater without a permit four times between March and July of the current year.

SpaceX did not install a water deluge system with flame deflectors at its Boca Chica launch site before beginning test flights of the largest rocket ever, Starship.

SpaceX's Starship, designed for transporting people and equipment to the moon and eventually colonizing Mars, experienced an explosion during its first test flight in April 2023. The rocket's energy caused SpaceX's concrete launchpad to explode, and the spacecraft blew up in mid-air.

A lawsuit was filed against SpaceX and the FAA by environmental groups in response to the 3.5-acre fire that occurred in Boca Chica State Park Land south of the launchpad and the hurling of concrete chunks into a nesting and migration site important to some endangered species nearby.

SpaceX is rushing to rebuild its launchpad and install a new water deluge system to prevent another explosion, bypassing the permitting process and disregarding pollutant discharge limits and wastewater treatment requirements.

In July 2023, SpaceX conducted its first full-pressure test of the water deluge system. A month later, on Aug. 25, 2023, the EPA launched an investigation and demanded information from SpaceX about its wastewater discharges.

According to CNBC's records, SpaceX received a formal notice of violation from the agency on March 13.

On March 14, SpaceX proceeded with its third Starship test flight, utilizing its unauthorized water deluge system at the launch site, despite receiving an EPA notice the previous day.

NASA chief Bill Nelson congratulated SpaceX on "a successful test flight!" despite the rocket being lost during its descent above the Indian Ocean.

Eric Roesch, an environmental engineer and author of the ESG Hound blog, predicted that SpaceX would require a water deluge system at the launchpad prior to the first test flight of Starship. He was also one of the first to criticize SpaceX for implementing such a system without obtaining the necessary permits.

Roesch stated in an interview that SpaceX faced greater legal risk by continuing with launch operations at Starbase after being informed by agencies that it was violating environmental regulations.

If the company or any of the individuals responsible for authorizing the launches continue to release wastewater, it could lead to further investigations and potential criminal charges.

Years of violations

SpaceX was given 30 days to apply for a permit after receiving a notice of violation from the EPA, but the company submitted its application 110 days later, on July 1, according to a copy of its application obtained through the TCEQ's public records office.

For years, they have been disregarding wastewater regulations, and it appears that the FAA is turning a blind eye to it, according to Roesch.

Kenneth Teague, a coastal ecologist with over three decades of experience in water quality and coastal planning, evaluated SpaceX's 483-page permit application and found it to be incomplete, lacking essential information about water discharge volumes, effluent temperature, and outfall locations.

Teague expressed his concern about the high levels of mercury in the wastewater from the SpaceX water deluge system, which exceeded the mercury water quality criteria.

The U.S. Geological Survey states that mercury is a significant threat to the nation's waters as it is a potent neurological poison found in fish, wildlife, and humans.

High temperatures and pollutants like mercury in high concentrations can have "significant negative impacts" on seabirds, including killing off the "little critters" that make up their diet, as Teague stated.

He stated that the SpaceX application does not adequately address this critical issue.

On Monday, the FAA announced that it has postponed public meetings scheduled for this week related to an environmental assessment of SpaceX's plan to increase the launches and landings of its Starship/Super Heavy vehicles at the Boca Chica Launch Site in Cameron County, Texas. No comment was provided by the agency on Friday when CNBC reached out for this story.

The FAA did not give a reason for the delays and stated that new dates would be announced later.

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