Conservation groups and a Rio Grande Valley-based Native American tribe are suing the federal government to prevent SpaceX from acquiring hundreds of acres of federally protected land in Cameron County.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Washington, D.C., by Save RGV, the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, the Carrizo Comecrudo Nation of Texas, Inc., and the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its director, Brian Nesvik, were named as defendants in the suit.

The potential land swap would provide 715 acres of land from the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Cameron County to SpaceX in exchange for 683 acres of land the company owns, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The service’s website says a final environmental assessment and a finding of no significant impact for the exchange were issued on June 1.

The lawsuit, which was obtained by Channel 5 News, states that the proposed land swap violates the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act.

The land exchange is at direct odds with the goals of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge, the lawsuit states.

“In addition to the bright lights, loud noise, and vehicle traffic caused by SpaceX’s operations, the rockets occasionally explode during testing and launches, sending debris and shrapnel into surrounding lands, including the refuge and its wildlife habitat,” the lawsuit reads. “Rather than exercising its enforcement authority to protect the refuge from SpaceX’s activities and to require mitigation to address the harm SpaceX has caused, the Service seeks to give SpaceX over 700 acres within the refuge, which will allow SpaceX to further its encroachment into the refuge and further degrade and fragment the refuge’s habitat.”

The lawsuit argues that the land exchange would privatize over 700 acres regularly accessed by the public that would create “a large divide through a key component of the Refuge, separating this unit into two unconnected land areas.”

Lands being proposed for acquisition through the exchange include nearly 113 acres of land located south of Starbase known as “Las Palomas,” which has no public access, 447 acres located between Laguna Vista and Laguna Heights along State Highway 100, and over 101 acres of “inaccessible” land in the eastern portion of the refuge.

“The Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge has already suffered significant adverse impacts from adjacent industrial and residential development at the city of Starbase, and on properties owned by SpaceX,” according to the lawsuit. “These impacts have done significant damage to the host of endangered mammals, birds, and sea turtles that rely on the Refuge for habitat. SpaceX operations have led to road and refuge closures that have prevented members of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation from accessing their ancestral lands for religious ceremonies, prevented members of the public from visiting the area, and prevented scientists and refuge staff from managing the site to encourage the recovery of protected species.”

A hearing on the lawsuit has not been set yet.