KBTX requested public records related to SpaceX, but Grimes County is asking the AG to keep some of them hidden
GRIMES COUNTY, Texas (KBTX) - Grimes County is asking the state’s top lawyer to let it keep secret communications about the proposed SpaceX Terafab project, all while hundreds of state environmental records obtained by KBTX reveal the groundwork for the $119 billion facility was being quietly laid nearly three years before most people ever heard the project’s name. On June 3, the same day Grimes County commissioners voted 4-1 to approve a 100% tax abatement for SpaceX’s proposed semiconductor manufacturing facility, KBTX filed a public information request seeking all communications between county officials and SpaceX, Tesla, Intel, xAI, Gibbons Creek Environmental Redevelopment Group, the Texas Municipal Power Agency, or any agent, attorney, or LLC acting on their behalf, covering the period from Jan. 1, 2025 through June 3, 2026. KBTX has filed more than two dozen open records requests since that day. What we’ve received so far isn’t the documents — it’s letters detailing what the county wants KBTX to pay to access, and what it’s now hoping the state’s Attorney General will let it withhold entirely from the public. On June 25, Grimes County Attorney Megan Barcak sent a formal letter to the AG’s office asking the state to decide whether the county has to hand over what was asked for. What the County Wants to Keep Secret The county cited seven separate legal exemptions under Texas law: possible lawsuits, attorney-client privilege, business negotiations and trade secrets, proprietary business information, internal government deliberations, security and infrastructure, and, finally, personal email addresses. Perhaps the most significant argument in the county’s letter is that someone has already put Grimes County on formal legal notice to preserve those records, which the county says signals a lawsuit may be coming. Under Texas law, records tied to anticipated litigation can be withheld. The county has not said who is threatening legal action. A substantial portion of the withheld records, the county says, consists of communications between county officials and the County Attorney or outside legal counsel. The county’s letter also specifically references handwritten attorney notes made during negotiations — notes the county says contain the attorney’s private opinions, conclusions, and legal strategy. Under Texas law, information about financial incentives being offered to a business prospect during active economic development negotiations — before a final agreement is signed — can be withheld. The county is using that argument here. Notably, that exemption applies only when no final deal has been executed, suggesting deal-making was underway well before the public June 3 vote. The county also argues that some records contain sensitive business data from the companies involved — including internal pricing, financial projections, and negotiation strategies — that could cause competitive harm if released. Internal memos and communications between county officials discussing policy decisions are also claimed as protected, to preserve frank discussion among government officials. In perhaps the most striking language in the letter, the county invokes a security exemption, arguing that some records relate to “infrastructure vulnerabilities, emergency preparedness, and operational planning” tied to what the county itself describes as a “high-security industrial facility” involved in “advanced manufacturing and aerospace-related activities.” The county argues that releasing those details could create a public safety risk. Some records also contain private email addresses of members of the public, which are automatically confidential under Texas law. The Attorney General’s office typically has 45 business days to respond. Until then, those documents are on hold. KBTX will continue pushing for their release. Groundwork Laid Years Before the Announcement While the records fight plays out, state environmental documents obtained by KBTX reveal a separate and earlier thread in the story. A chip-making facility the size of Terafab requires a lake’s worth of water to operate. That’s not a coincidence when it comes to the Gibbons Creek site — the coal-fired power plant that once stood there used the same reservoir for the same reason: industrial cooling. In August 2023, nearly three years before Terafab was publicly announced, an entity called Gibbons Tract 1, LP filed an amendment to two water rights certificates tied to Gibbons Creek Reservoir and the Navasota River pump station with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Those water rights were originally issued to the Texas Municipal Power Agency to cool the Gibbons Creek coal plant, which has since been demolished. The rights authorize whoever holds them to draw water from Gibbons Creek Reservoir at a rate of up to 680,000 gallons per minute—and to permanently consume up to 3.2 billion gallons per year. The reservoir itself holds roughly 10.5 billion gallons at full capacity. In the 2023 agreement, Gibbons Tract 1, owned by an LLC called Gibbons Lake and Land, expanded those rights. Water that had only been authorized for industrial use at the power plant was now approved for municipal, domestic, agricultural, recreational, and industrial purposes across dozens of Texas counties in the Brazos River Basin. Still more than a year before the public announcement, the water rights were amended a second time to authorize the release of water from Gibbons Creek Reservoir to flow downstream through the Navasota and Brazos Rivers. The amendment also included a water lease with The Dow Chemical Company, allowing Dow to divert water released from the Brazos River using its own water-rights infrastructure. Fast forward to this past May, and that same water infrastructure was purchased by WIT Tech LLC, an Elon Musk-connected company. The water rights, the reservoir, and the surrounding land now sit in the hands of a Musk-affiliated entity — alongside the $119 billion facility potentially headed to Grimes County. Gibbons Tract 1, LP does not appear to have been directly connected to SpaceX before that sale. But the timeline raises questions about when planning for a water-intensive industrial facility at this site actually began. The Bluebonnet Groundwater Conservation District told KBTX it has received no permit request from SpaceX to drill new wells. According to the Grimes County tax abatement agreement, SpaceX plans to draw water directly from Gibbons Creek Reservoir, making these water rights central to the entire project. SpaceX, Musk, and WIT Tech did not respond to KBTX’s requests for comment.
Source: KBTX News 3