Judge dismisses lawsuit against SpaceX by activists
A federal judge has now thrown out a lawsuit that had been filed by anti-Musk activists in an attempt to halt all launches by SpaceX of its Starship/Superheavy rocket at Boca Chica.
U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera issued his ruling last Thursday in response to the request filed by Save RGV on Oct. 9. The group has alleged that SpaceX’s water deluge system is releasing untreated industrial wastewater during launches and sought to halt the launches.
The water deluge system is designed to dampen the effects of Starship’s rocket engine blasts during liftoff and static fire engine testing.
“At the beginning of the Starship-Super Heavy Launch System’s development, it became evident that a deluge water system was necessary to protect the launch site and surrounding areas during launches,” Olvera wrote in the order. “A deluge water system sprays large quantities of potable water at the base of the spacecrafts during launch to prevent fires and reduce dispersal of dust and debris.
“Because of these dangers, Defendant cannot launch its spacecrafts without the deluge water system.”
SpaceX had argued that environmental reviews by both federal and state agencies had determined that the deluge system caused no harm. Olvera concurred, and also noted that to block launches would do significant harm to SpaceX and NASA’s entire lunar program.
This activist group, which represents almost no one in southern Texas, has no real interest in the environment. It filed this and other lawsuits simply as lawfare to try to stymie SpaceX for political reasons, knowing that we have more than seven decades of data at spaceports in Florida and California that prove rocket launches and deluge systems cause no environmental harm. In fact, they help wildlife by creating a large refuge where that wildlife can thrive.
Expect further similar lawsuits, all of which will be summarily dismissed afterward.
What I wonder is who is paying for this lawfare? SaveRGV likely doesn’t have the resources.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
A federal judge has now thrown out a lawsuit that had been filed by anti-Musk activists in an attempt to halt all launches by SpaceX of its Starship/Superheavy rocket at Boca Chica.
U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera issued his ruling last Thursday in response to the request filed by Save RGV on Oct. 9. The group has alleged that SpaceX’s water deluge system is releasing untreated industrial wastewater during launches and sought to halt the launches.
The water deluge system is designed to dampen the effects of Starship’s rocket engine blasts during liftoff and static fire engine testing.
“At the beginning of the Starship-Super Heavy Launch System’s development, it became evident that a deluge water system was necessary to protect the launch site and surrounding areas during launches,” Olvera wrote in the order. “A deluge water system sprays large quantities of potable water at the base of the spacecrafts during launch to prevent fires and reduce dispersal of dust and debris.
“Because of these dangers, Defendant cannot launch its spacecrafts without the deluge water system.”
SpaceX had argued that environmental reviews by both federal and state agencies had determined that the deluge system caused no harm. Olvera concurred, and also noted that to block launches would do significant harm to SpaceX and NASA’s entire lunar program.
This activist group, which represents almost no one in southern Texas, has no real interest in the environment. It filed this and other lawsuits simply as lawfare to try to stymie SpaceX for political reasons, knowing that we have more than seven decades of data at spaceports in Florida and California that prove rocket launches and deluge systems cause no environmental harm. In fact, they help wildlife by creating a large refuge where that wildlife can thrive.
Expect further similar lawsuits, all of which will be summarily dismissed afterward.
What I wonder is who is paying for this lawfare? SaveRGV likely doesn’t have the resources.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Good question about Save RGV’s source of funding. I suspect that trail leads back to one or more of the myriad fronts and cut-outs of the Soros crime family.
The only thing Save RGV seems bent on “saving” the Rio Grande Valley from is its recent prosperity. Pre-Starbase, Cameron County had long been the poorest county in the entire state of Texas.
How many of these enviro groups are ultimately funded by the CCP?
schwit,
Excellent question. In pointing the finger at well-known domestic fifth columnists I certainly didn’t mean to exclude potential meddling by foreign actors. That has, sadly, been going on here since at least the time of the French and Indian War.
In this particular case, the list of foreign suspects does lead off with the CCP. But it is also the case that certain sectors of the motley U.S. Green movement – especially those opposed to fracking for gas and oil – have been found to be in the pay of Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern oil producing countries. Sadly, the foreign enemies of the U.S. have never had much difficulty finding treasonous weasels among the U.S. citizenry willing to do their bidding. Fortunately for the rest of us, these folks will be falling on very hard times indeed come January.
Robert,
You asked: “What I wonder is who is paying for this lawfare? SaveRGV likely doesn’t have the resources.”
Is it possible that SpaceX itself paid for these lawfares? A few years back, as part of a deal to get FAA permission to launch at Boca Chica, SpaceX had to gift money to environmental groups, and perhaps some of that money could have made its way to SaveRGV.
Dick Eagleson noted: “The only thing Save RGV seems bent on “saving” the Rio Grande Valley from is its recent prosperity.”
Wizard Of Id:
Long-suffering Rodney querying peasants:
“Why are you coming to Id?”
“We are fleeing prosperity.”
Dick,
Perfectly put.
Whether they’re funded by outright Soros cutouts or not, we know their type: they’re misanthropes, shaped by profound resentments. They knew who and what they hate.
Should be a counter suit for expenses!
The capper–
Angry Astronaut reports that the judge who pimp-slapped the eco-freaks down—was an Obama appointee.