Federal judge clears the way for SpaceX's Texas wildlife refuge land swap
A federal judge denied environmental groups' bid to block a land exchange handing SpaceX roughly 712 acres of a South Texas wildlife refuge near its Massey Test Site in return for about 692 acres it owns -- the ruling clears a legal hurdle to SpaceX's Starbase-area expansion, with the title transfer set to proceed Sept. 22.
U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. on Sept. 21 rejected a preliminary injunction sought by the Center for Biological Diversity and other conservation groups, allowing a land swap between the Interior Department and SpaceX to move forward. Under the deal, about 712 acres inside the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge -- adjacent to SpaceX's Massey Test Site -- will transfer to the company, which in turn hands over roughly 692 acres of its own land to the federal government.
The conservation groups had argued the refuge land could be habitat for the endangered ocelot, but the judge sided with SpaceX and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, citing an environmental assessment that concluded ocelots are unlikely to occur in the parcel being transferred to the company.
The Interior Department and SpaceX signed the exchange agreement on Sept. 1, and with the injunction denied, the title transfer is expected to proceed on schedule Sept. 22. The ruling removes one source of legal uncertainty hanging over SpaceX's continued land expansion around its Starbase facility in South Texas, even as opposition from environmental groups continues.
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