MEXICO CITY (CN) - In her morning press conference on Wednesday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government will pursue legal action against American space technology company SpaceX for debris that ended up in the northern border state of Tamaulipas.
"A general review is being carried out for which international laws are being violated, and from there, we will initiate a process, because there is indeed contamination," she said on Wednesday.
Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship spacecraft, launched near the border in Boca Chica, Texas, exploded once on May 27 and another time on June 19. The explosions sent a burst of debris and microplastics known as "space junk" into the Gulf of Mexico, eventually reaching natural marine areas in Tamaulipas.
Conibio Global, a conservation and research organization, has repeatedly denounced the rocket launches as potential hazards for marine life and ecological areas near Matamoros, Tamaulipas.
"Today, I personally inspected 40 kilometers of beach, and the findings were shocking: clearly, millions of plastic fragments are reaching the shoreline. This puts the entire marine ecosystem at high risk, negatively affects local fishing communities, and poses a threat to boats that may collide with the floating tanks," Jesus Elias Ibarra Rodriguez, president of Conibio Global, wrote on Facebook on May 31, days after the first rocket explosion.
Over the weekend, accompanied by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the Federal Office of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of the Navy, the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas and other federal and state officials, Conibio Global gave a tour of Playa Bagdad, Tamaulipas, one of the the affected areas.
"The authorities sent by our Mexican president will determine the environmental impact in Tamaulipas. What is certain is that they witnessed significant pollution," Conibio Global wrote on Facebook on Monday.
The organization said that the rocket debris - including 4,500-pound tanks - were sorted and put into different categories such as solid and spongy plastic, aluminum, rubber, combustion tanks and metal. The group also took ground and water samples from the area to study.
The beach is home to the endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle, whose nesting period is from April to July. The debris can be very harmful to the animals which they can mistake for food.
The SpaceX rocket launch site, located in Boca Chica, is nearby to other species of endangered animals such as the ocelot, Gulf Coast jaguarundi, Northern Aplomado falcon and Hawksbill sea turtle.
Other conservation groups have sounded the alarm concerning the environmental impact of SpaceX rocket launches and specifically falling debris.
"Since SpaceX came to town in 2014, wildlife has paid the price for the intense heat, noise, and light pollution of its construction and launch activities. When failed rockets explode, debris falls on surrounding habitat, sometimes causing brush and forest fires," said the Center for Biological Diversity in a statement on their website.
SpaceX rocket debris from different launches have also been found in the Bahamas and Europe.
In December 2013, the Federal Aviation Administration approved launch licenses and experimental permits for SpaceX despite significant concerns from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Source: Courthouse News Service
