Cameron County Approves Resolution and Roads for SpaceX Despite Community Opposition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Cameron County Approves Resolution and Roads for SpaceX Despite Community Opposition

SpaceX operations threaten wildlife refuges, endangered species, sacred sites of the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, and nearby Rio Grande Valley communities.

Brownsville, TX — Today, despite opposition, Cameron County Commissioners voted unanimously during their meeting to approve a resolution in support of SpaceX’s Starship/Super Heavy rocket project on Boca Chica Beach and to abandon several roads in Boca Chica Village to SpaceX. Multiple community members in Cameron County widely opposed the agenda items during the meeting. Residents emailed and hand-delivered over 200 letters to the commissioners urging them to raise their concerns about the explosion risks from SpaceX operations to regulatory agencies rather than pass a resolution. Commenters also noted that abandoning tax-payer-funded roads to SpaceX allows the corporate takeover of Boca Chica Village. The Cameron County Commission has already helped SpaceX destroy our beach enough.

Emma Guevara, a Brownsville community member, released the following statement:

“Last week, SpaceX caused a huge explosion that was felt or heard all the way to South Padre Island without any public warning. By passing a resolution and abandoning the roads for SpaceX, Cameron County Commissioners are selling out our community to a billionaire rocket company and ignoring our legitimate fears of rocket explosions near homes & wildlife refuges.”

Christopher Basaldú, Carrizo Comecrudo Tribal Member, released the following statement:

“The Cameron County Commissioners are facilitating neo-colonialism on sacred lands. They seem to have little to no regard for the well-being of the environment or their constituents. SpaceX poses an unnecessary and ongoing danger to the surrounding community and wildlife, not to mention the permanent damage it has already caused to ancestral lands and sacred sites of the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe. The Commission needs to listen to the people, not to billionaires and millionaires.”

In response, Carrizo Comecrudo Tribal Chairman Juan B. Mancias released the following statement:

“The Cameron County Commissioners approved this resolution without consulting the Tribe, which means there is no consent for approval. I reached out to the County Judge, and he never responded. This promotes the ongoing racist genocide from corrupt governments in the Rio Grande Valley.”