Environmental and Native American Groups Win Appeal over Beach Closures for SpaceX Testing and Launches

By B.N. Frank

Space launches in general aren’t good for the environment. SpaceX launches and vehicles in particular have been plagued with various problems – environmental and otherwise (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). While not everyone has taken legal action against SpaceX, activists in Texas have and are now allowed to proceed with their lawsuit.

From GovTech:

Activists Win Appeal Over SpaceX Beach Closures in Texas

A coalition of environmental and Native American groups won an appeal in a 2021 lawsuit against state and county officials over SpaceX’s recurring closures of Boca Chica beach for Starship testing and launches.

Brandon Lingle, San Antonio Express-News

(TNS) — A coalition of environmental and Native American groups won an appeal in their 2021 lawsuit against state and county officials over SpaceX’s recurring closures of Boca Chica beach for Starship testing and launches.

Texas’ 13th district court of appeals ruled in favor of SaveRGV, the Sierra Club and the Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation of Texas in suits alleging that a 2013 state law allowing beach closures for space flight activities goes against the Open Beaches Amendment to the Texas Constitution.

In July 2022, Cameron County’s 445th District Court dismissed the coalition’s lawsuit, saying the organizations lacked standing in their complaint against Texas Land Commissioner Dr. Dawn Buckingham, the Texas Land Office, Cameron County and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The appeals court reversed that decision Thursday, allowing the lawsuit to proceed.

The activists’ legal win comes as the commercial space company awaits authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration to attempt the third launch of the 400-foot-tall Starship, which SpaceX has said could be as early as mid-February.

Mary Angela Branch — a board member for SaveRGV, a nonprofit environmental organization — called the decision a “huge victory” in an email, writing, “We are now able to try our case again on the unconstitutionality of beach closures.”

The coalition is challengeing part of the 2013 Texas Natural Resources Code that allows “commissioners in a county bordering the Gulf of Mexico or its tidewater to temporarily close a beach in reasonable proximity to a space flight launch site or access points to the beach in the county on launch dates.”

After lobbying from SpaceX and CEO Elon Musk, the Texas Legislature wrote the law with SpaceX’s Boca Chica beach operation in mind as it’s the only entity with space launch operations in Texas on the Gulf of Mexico.

SaveRGV and the others also targeted language in the law that allows the state’s land commissioner “to promulgate rules for the closure of beaches for space flight activities.”

And they argued against the constitutionality of a memorandum of agreement between the Texas General Land Office and Cameron County, as well as a Cameron County Commissioner’s Court order “permitting the closure of Boca Chica Beach and State Highway 4 for space flight launches.”

The lawsuit said county and state officials have allowed SpaceX to close Boca Chica Beach for up to 450 hours per year and cited instances where people have been turned back due to unannounced beach closures.

Justice Clarissa Silva of the 13th Court of Appeals, in her opinion, rejected the state and county’s defenses that the coalition lacked standing in the case and dismissed their claims.

Cameron County routinely posts SpaceX’s planned beach closures, and people can sign up to receive text notifications by texting “BEACH” to 866-513-3475. However, the closures often fluctuate due to the nature of flight testing.

The Texas General Land Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.