In documents posted online, EPA officials said SpaceX agreed to pay the penalty over a spill of 36,000 gallons of liquid oxygen into wetlands adjacent its launch area in Boca Chica on the Gulf Coast.
The fine also covers seven releases of industrial-process wastewater into the same wetlands, according to the EPA. In the document, the agency said the commercial space-flight venture hadn't obtained the required permits to issue the releases.
The EPA consent decree — first reported on by the Express-News — comes as SpaceX seeks approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to launch its fifth test flight from Boca Chica. A few days ago, the FAA said it had postponed public meetings on the launch due to the company's violations of the Clean Water Act.
On Tuesday, SpaceX officials issued a statement saying that FAA officials signaled they won't issue a launch approval until November — a delay from an earlier September target date. The firm called federal environmental delays over the launch "unreasonable and exasperating."
Rio Grande Valley environmental groups have spent years fighting efforts by SpaceX to expand Starbase, its complex in Boca Chica, arguing that the launches are ecologically damaging. The company's site is located next to Boca Chica State Park and the Las Palomas Wildlife Management Area.
This summer, the FAA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality also raised concerns about potential environmental degradation if SpaceX increases its number of annual launches, the Texas Tribune reports.
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