Environmental Groups Sue to Block SpaceX's 700-Acre Texas Refuge Swap
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 10
Environmental Groups Sue to Block SpaceX's 700-Acre Texas Refuge Swap
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 10
Summary
A federal lawsuit filed in Washington seeks to stop the Trump administration from transferring more than 700 acres of Texas wildlife refuge land to SpaceX.
The challenge targets a Fish and Wildlife Service approval issued this month for an exchange in which SpaceX would give up 683 acres it owns for refuge land nearer its launch site by the US-Mexico border.
Environmental groups say the swap would deepen ecological damage in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, where critics already blame SpaceX's expansion for habitat disruption, beach-access losses and risks from rocket explosions.
The agency's final environmental assessment found no significant impact and called the deal a net conservation benefit for the 103,000-acre refuge, while SpaceX did not comment.
The case marks a new flashpoint over SpaceX's growing footprint in South Texas, where the company has expanded for more than a decade and employees last year voted to form Starbase.