VERMILLION PARISH, LA – Local protesters opposing SpaceX’s planned Louisiana facility have nearly reached a compromise, saying the company is welcome to build all 12 launch pads as long as the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development is put in charge of construction.
The proposal emerged after activists realized traditional protests, lawsuits and environmental challenges might only delay the project a few years.
“We needed something that could stop construction for decades,” one protester explained. “Then somebody mentioned LADOTD.”
Opponents say their confidence in the plan comes from Louisiana’s proposed new Mississippi River bridge, a project residents have discussed for three decades without even managing to settle on a final location.
Under the compromise, SpaceX would immediately be permitted to begin construction once DOTD completes the necessary feasibility studies, environmental studies, traffic studies, public hearings, revised studies and studies determining whether additional studies are necessary.
Elon Musk was expected to accept the terms before being informed that Louisiana still hasn’t picked a spot for the bridge.
DOTD officials called the 30-year estimate “wildly premature,” noting they haven’t even selected a consulting firm to study how long the project might take.
