By ALEXANDREA BAILEY
editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com
SpaceX has filed an application to authorize the discharge of a deluge water system into the wetlands and
Rio Grande river systems near Starbase.
According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality [TCEQ] Space Exploration Technologies Corp. applied to the TCEQ for a proposed Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System [TPDES] Permit
No. WQ0005462000 to authorize the discharge of deluge system water at an intermittent and flow-variable volume via Outfalls 001 and 002.
Water deluge systems are a type of fire protection system that uses water to quickly extinguish a fire by releasing large amounts of water simultaneously from open nozzles.
Dr. Hudson DeYoe, a professor at UTRGV’s School of Earth, Environmental and Marine Sciences, explained to the PRESS some environmental concerns that arise with this deluge system. He says before launches, SpaceX sprays the launch site with fire retardant, containing a variety of chemicals, which gets washed away with the deluge system. DeYoe is concerned with how these chemicals could affect commercial fishing in the area, as well as the health of seagrasses and wildlife including oysters, crabs and snook, as well as potential widespread distribution due to tidal flow.
Save RGV, a non-profit conservationist group dedi
cated to protecting the natural environment of the Rio Grande Valley claims deluge water discharge has been a regular activity by SpaceX for the last two years, before the application was filed.
TCEQ says there is an open compliance investigation related to activities at the Starbase Production Site.
SpaceX performing a test of the Starship Deluge System in Bocca Chica can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlOkUBSS1LY This video was posted by NASA Spaceflight on
YouTube last year and has over 200,000 views.
Members of Save RGV have called upon TCEQ to hold a public meeting regarding this situation, and
have asked the community to join them in their request through the TCEQ comment period. TCEQ says
a public meeting will be held if there is a substantial or significant degree of public interest in an
application.
3 comments
Elon should capture that water build and desalinization plant. Then allow to route clean water to our yards ,drinking water, and agriculture water for the area. He would be a hero and friend of the local community. Then at that point SpaceX would have no pushback. As a 48 yr local fishing guide I however totally dispute releasing that chemical riden water into the south bay system where it kills marine life and other wildlife that owns the Boca Chica salt flats by rights. Fire retardants and other chemicals are not made for the marine environment. We need to stand together to stop this or return the water back to the bay as clean as it was taken out. Remember the shrimp farms and the brown tides and how devastating 8 to 9 years it was to the area. Think about before it happens not after the damage is done. Elon you are a good guy show us what your wealth can do for mankind and sea life alike.
Water is not really the most effective fire suppression material. What would make more sense would be an oxygen inhibitor gas like the restaurants use. They employ a liquid ammonia the turns into gas and devourers all the available oxygen, thereby extinguishing the fire. Although it might be expensive it could set a new standard for space launches.
Don’t think ammonia in open area works — I had to evacuate my office in Houston in 1976 for ammonia truck falling off high overpass by Galleria — many people died and injured from ammonia inhalation
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/environment/article/ammonia-truck-crash-1976-houston-history-19446507.php