SpaceX rocket cargo project puts Pacific seabirds in jeopardy

By Valerie Volcovici

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A project proposed by Elon Musk's SpaceX and the U.S. Air Force to test hypersonic rocket cargo deliveries from a remote Pacific atoll could harm the many seabirds that nest at the wildlife refuge, according to biologists and experts who have spent more than a decade working to protect them.

It would not be the first time that SpaceX's activities have affected protected birds. A SpaceX launch of its Starship rocket in Boca Chica, Texas, last year involved a blast that destroyed nests and eggs of plover shorebirds, landing the billionaire Musk's company in legal trouble and leading him to remark jokingly that he would refrain from eating omelets for a week to compensate.

The Air Force announced in March that it has selected Johnston Atoll, a U.S. territory in the central Pacific Ocean located nearly 800 miles (1,300 km) southwest of the state of Hawaii, as the site to test the Rocket Cargo Vanguard program it is developing with SpaceX. 

The project involves test landing rocket re-entry vehicles designed to deliver up to 100 tons of cargo to anywhere on Earth within about 90 minutes. It would be a breakthrough for military logistics by making it easier to move supplies quickly into distant locations. 

According to biologists and experts who have worked on the one-square-mile (2.6 square km) atoll - designated as a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge and part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument - the project could be too much for the island's 14 species of tropical birds to withstand. 

Roughly a million seabirds use the atoll, home to a variety of wildlife, throughout the year, up from just a few thousand in the 1980s. The bird species include red-tailed tropicbirds, red-footed boobies and great frigatebirds, which have eight-foot (2-1/2 meter) wingspans.

"Any sort of aviation that happens to the island is going to have an impact at this point," said Hawaii-based biologist Steven Minamishin, who works for the National Wildlife Refuge System, part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"The biggest issue this will bring is the sound of the rocket flushing birds off of their nests and having them so anxious and unsure as to not return to their nest, resulting in a loss of generation," said University of Texas wildlife biologist Ryan Rash, who spent nearly a year on Johnston.

The project would involve construction of two landing pads and the relanding of 10 rockets over four years. 

The Air Force and SpaceX are preparing an environmental assessment of the project in the coming weeks for public comment. The assessment is a requirement under a law called the National Environmental Policy Act before the Air Force can proceed with the project, which it wants to start this year.

The Air Force in a Federal Register notice in March said the project was unlikely to have a significant environmental impact but noted it could harm migratory birds.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Air Force said it is closely consulting with the Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Fisheries Service, "to assess impacts and develop necessary measures for avoiding, minimizing and/or mitigating potential environmental impacts." 

Space X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Musk is serving as an adviser to President Donald Trump as they work to downsize and remake the federal government and eliminate thousands of employees.

'ALL THAT'S LEFT'

In the Pacific, where unpopulated land is scarce and threatened by sea level rise, the birds depend on Johnston for their nesting and survival, according to the biologists interviewed by Reuters. 

This makes the protection of these birds essential, said Desirée Sorenson-Groves, president of the National Wildlife Refuge Association, a nonprofit group focused on protecting U.S. National Wildlife Refuge System.

"These little remote oceanic islands are all that's left for them," Sorenson-Groves said. "We've invested a lot of money as a country to bring back wildlife to these places." 

Johnston Atoll, closed to the public, is administered by the Air Force and managed by Fish and Wildlife Service. The island was used for nuclear testing from the late 1950s to 1962, and to stockpile chemical munitions including Agent Orange from 1972 to 1975. 

The Air Force completed a clean-up of the atoll in 2004, and it has served as a haven for nesting seabirds and migrating shore birds since. Visits by people to the island have been highly controlled to avoid disturbing the birds. 

The Fish and Wildlife Service led an effort to eradicate yellow-crazy ants, an invasive species, on the atoll after it was declared a refuge, sending crews for six-month stints starting in 2010 and ending in 2021. Crews brought their clothing in sealed bags, had their equipment frozen and sanitized, and used separate island shoes to prevent new species from invading the atoll, said Eric Baker, a Fish and Wildlife Service volunteer and wildlife photographer who spent a year on Johnston. 

"The basic rule was cause no or as little disturbance as possible," Baker said.  

Baker said he is worried that the SpaceX project will undo all the painstaking conservation efforts over the years.

"The nests and the birds there are just going to be kind of vaporized," Baker said. 

(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Will Dunham)