BROWNSVILLE, TX—The South Texas Environmental Justice Network, in partnership with the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas and Save RGV and represented by Perales, Allmon & Ice, P.C., sued the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) and the commission for its decision authorizing the conveyance of 43 acres of Boca Chica State Park land to SpaceX, in exchange for 477 acres of land that the corporation does not own.
In a press release distributed by the South Texas Environmental Justice Network (STEJN), the Rio Grande Valley organizations denounced TPWD for allowing a land grab of Boca Chica State Park land for a private space corporation that is not in the public interest.
Attorney Marisa Perales, representing the three Rio Grande Valley organizations, said, “This is just the latest example of our state officials failing to fulfill their obligations to Texans whenever SpaceX is involved. Texas Parks & Wildlife Department must protect parkland and wildlife resources, including at Boca Chica Beach and State Park. Our lawsuit alleges that in authorizing the conveyance of 43 acres of public parkland to SpaceX, TPWD violated statutory requirements, including the requirement to consider alternatives to giving away public parkland, the requirement to ensure the minimization of harm to the 43 acres of public parkland, and the requirement to consider the best interests of the local community and TPWD.
Protecting public parkland and the public’s interest means saying ‘no’ to the demands of SpaceX, whose space flight activities have caused harm to public lands and wildlife habitats. Because TPWD failed to prioritize the public when it authorized conveying parkland to SpaceX, we filed a lawsuit on behalf of RGV organizations.”
Additionally, according to STEJN, for years, Rio Grande Valley residents have been outspoken about SpaceX’s routine operations cutting off access to HWY 4, where families fish and recreate, preventing the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe from accessing sacred lands for ceremonies, destroying acres of wildlife habitat for threatened and endangered species, and threatening public safety with rocket shrapnel blown into the low-income community. SpaceX’s latest move to take over public parkland is another example of the private space corporation’s inch-by-inch takeover of Boca Chica Beach and surrounding parkland. Rio Grande Valley organizations drove up residents to the TPWD meeting last month to give testimonies against the proposal to provide public parkland to SpaceX, and over a thousand opposing public comments were submitted. The TPWC’s decision is at odds with the sentiments of most residents, including experts, who commented on the proposal.
Christopher Basaldú, Ph.D. with STEJN, said, “Boca Chica Beach and its surrounding environment is one of the last pieces of untouched coastline left in Texas, the rest under threat of environmental damage due to oil and gas export projects. It is also incredibly disappointing to see that land sacred to the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas is being sold and destroyed without even consulting the Tribe, to begin with,” and continued, “We’re suing the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department because they do not take the concerns of the local community seriously and should help preserve our beach and surrounding environment rather than sell it off to the highest bidder.”
Juan Mancias, the Tribal chairman for the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, said, “Boca Chica Beach is sacred to our Tribe, and the land is part of our origin story,” he also said, “Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission cannot be allowed to give our lands with archeological remains to SpaceX to use as a testing playground. If we had known TPWD was considering giving away Boca Chica property, we would have placed a request because these lands are part of our identity.”
They filed the lawsuit in the Travis County District Court on Wednesday, April 3.
South Texas Environmental Justice Network supports the leadership of frontline BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities. It includes numerous organizations, campaigns, individuals, and the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribal leadership from the South Texas region that challenge the status quo and corporate power to build a future aligned with values, principles, and praxis that centers on the social and environmental health of local Native and BIPOC communities living in reciprocal relationships with our shared natural home. https://www.facebook.com/SOTXEJNCarrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas is one of the aboriginal, autochthonous, Indigenous peoples of Texas.
The lands in question are within the original boundaries of the traditional homelands of the Carrizo Comecrudo Nation, who were also living in the area now known as the Rio Grande Valley, the mouth of that river, Boca Chica and its surrounding environs with many villages on both sides of the river as recorded by the first Spanish incursions into the area. http://www.carrizocomecrudonation.com/ Perales, Allmon & Ice, P.C. representing South Texas Environmental Justice Network, Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe, and Save RGV.
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