Dopo quello sulla sicurezza sul lavoro, c’è un nuovo approfondimento di Reuters sulla sviluppo di Starbase e i rapporti con la politica locale.
The Boosters: Liftoff at Musk’s SpaceX base was fueled by wheeling-dealing Texas politicians
A mio parere è interessante ma non si scopre nulla di nuovo o che non si potesse immaginare - politici e funzionari locali finanziati (legalmente) da Musk - e si ha l’ennesima conferma sul modus operandi dell’azienda:
In 2021, Gardner and four other former employees said, SpaceX began construction on a leased site for facilities related to a backup power plant. SpaceX, the employees recalled, had no permit to build there.
Nonetheless, Gardner said, Shyamal “Sam” Patel, an engineer then in charge of Starbase facilities, told workers to proceed. To disguise their work, Gardner said, Patel told them to bury pipes and other materials that if seen from above would reveal construction. SpaceX enthusiasts often post aerial views of Starbase progress online.
[…] SpaceX finished building the power plant facilities, Gardner and the other former employees said. County records contain no indication that a permit was ever granted for the construction.
Una questione curiosa riguarda un contenzioso con Cards Against Umanity a cui SpaceX avrebbe occupato illegalmente un terreno nei pressi di Boca Chica.
Last year, a homeowner in the area, Keith Reynolds, noticed that SpaceX builders had cleared a parcel and were storing construction materials there. The parcel belonged to Cards Against Humanity, a card game company that sometimes engages in progressive political activism and bought land there to thwart a border wall with Mexico.
[…] Cards Against Humanity on Thursday filed a $15 million lawsuit against SpaceX in Cameron County District Court, alleging illegal trespassing and destruction of property.
La notizia è ripresa in un articolo di Ars Technica. Nell’articolo si trovano anche le foto e sembra proprio che SpaceX abbia occupato e iniziato a utilizzare l’area ignorando la proprietà.
SpaceX and/or its contractors entered the Property and, after erecting posts to mark the property line, proceeded to ignore any distinction based upon property ownership. The site was cleared of vegetation, and the soil was compacted with gravel or other substance to allow SpaceX and its contractors to run and park its vehicles all over the Property. Generators were brought in to run equipment and lights while work was being performed before and after daylight. An enormous mound of gravel was unloaded onto the Property; the gravel is being stored and used for the construction of buildings by SpaceX’s contractors along the road.
Large pieces of construction equipment and numerous construction-related vehicles are utilized and stored on the Property continuously. And, of course, workers are present performing construction work and staging materials and vehicles for work to be performed on other tracts. In short, SpaceX has treated the Property as its own for at least six (6) months without regard for CAH’s property rights nor the safety of anyone entering what has become a worksite that is presumably governed by OSHA safety requirements.