SpaceX accused of dumping mercury into Texas waters for years

I would be exactly 0% shocked to learn this was true.
- I'd be shocked if Abbott didn't try to give them a Texas Medal of Freedom award for doing this.
  
  And for removing water breaks for workers when it's really hot out
- And with Chevron ruling they wont face any repercussions!
  Isnt crony capitalism great!?!?!?!
- Would you be more shocked to learn that it isn't true? It is possible that this entire story is based on two typos in the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality report.
  
  Not sure why you’re getting downvoted (although you’re username would certainly give the impression you’re just defending musk).
  The information you linked to does indeed cast doubt on the validity of the report. Corrected information will be needed before concrete conclusions can be drawn.
  I hate Musk as much as the next person, and definitely wouldn’t be surprised if he was dumping chemicals in the water. But that doesn’t mean we should let confirmation bias cloud our ability to think critically.
- https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1823378186836889699
  CNBC updated its story yesterday with additional factually inaccurate information.
  While there may be a typo in one table of the initial TCEQ's public version of the permit application, the rest of the application and the lab reports clearly states that levels of Mercury found in non-stormwater discharge associated with the water deluge system are well below state and federal water quality criteria (of no higher than 2.1 micrograms per liter for acute aquatic toxicity), and are, in most instances, non-detectable.
  The initial application was updated within 30 days to correct the typo and TCEQ is updating the application to reflect the correction.
  
  Yeah i don’t believe this at all

Ok so, going to the CNBC article and my own memory, as charitably summarized as I can:
Boca Chica is originally built with certain parameters and specifications, before Musk announced they would be doing all of the testing for Starship at that location.
Then, SpaceX just started doing so, and then asked for permission from relevant regulatory bodies ... later.
At this point, Common Sense Skeptic on YouTube did a video or two specifically going into the details of exactly how bonkers it is to do huge scale rocket testing basically half a kilometer away from protected nature zones.
Then, one of the Starship tests blew apart huge parts of the launch pad after Elon had said that would not be a problem.
Then, Elon folded on that notion, and built the water deluge system and modified the launching configuration, without getting any permits beforehand from relevant regulatory agencies.
So the run off from all that water has been going into a protected natural environment for... about a year now.
The EPA began investigating this in August of 2023, and informed SpaceX they were in violation in March of 2024.
Literally the day after SpaceX was formally notified their water deluge system was in violation, SpaceX did its third Starship test, again using the water deluge system.
Now, cue SpaceX lying all over the place, saying that they've been told they were allowed to do this the whole time, and that there were no detectable levels of mercury in the discharge, even though their own permit that they belatedly filed indicates the detectable level of mercury in the discharge were about 50x the safe level.
SpaceX said in its response on X that there were “no detectable levels of mercury” found in its samples. But SpaceX wrote in its permit application that its mercury concentration at one outfall location was 113 micrograms per liter. Water quality criteria in the state calls for levels no higher than 2.1 micrograms per liter for acute aquatic toxicity and much lower levels for human health.
To conclude:
“Further wastewater discharges could trigger more investigations and criminal charges for the company or any of the people involved in authorizing the launches,” he said.
Eric Roesch, Environmental Engineer
Basically, the environmental aspects of this have been a known and ongoing shit show for over a year, but have only been covered by a few YouTube channels and blogs, vastly drowned out by the cacophony of SpaceX fans.
I highly suggest every one check out Common Sense Skeptic on YouTube, they have been calling bullshit on SpaceX for a while now.
In particular, one interesting vid they did shows that a former NASA administrator bullshitted her own request for project process to get it awarded to SpaceX, using blatant double standards.
I say former NASA admin because quite quickly after rubber stamping a huge amount of taxpayer money toward Starship development, she now works for SpaceX.
- Good thing the supreme Court expects companies to not do this shit
- Thank you very much for the synopsis. I am disgusted and unsurprised.
- Don't worry, with the Chevron ruling out of the way, this can be thrown out in court and promptly swept under the rug. 💪🇺🇲🦅
- I’m very curious as to who this NASA admin is…no name comes to mind?
  
  Kathy Lueders
- SpaceX said in its response on X that there were “no detectable levels of mercury” found in its samples. But SpaceX wrote in its permit application that its mercury concentration at one outfall location was 113 micrograms per liter. Water quality criteria in the state calls for levels no higher than 2.1 micrograms per liter for acute aquatic toxicity and much lower levels for human health.
  Upon closer inspection, it seems possible that this discrepancy is based on two typos in the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality report. The actual value may be closer to 0.113 micrograms per liter, not 113.
- Just a small correction about the pad exploding/water deluge system.
  They were already working on the water deluge system before the pad blew up. They simply didn't think it was going to explode like that since it worked as expected during the half thrust test, and the water system wasn't ready yet.
  
  Maybe they should have had the water system ready before the full test just in case.
  Like someone concerned about health and safety would do.
- Thanks for the summary! Very easy to follow.
  Sorry if this is a stupid question, but wouldn't diluting the runoff with more than 1:50 ratio with fresh water fix this problem? If it's joining a large body of water down the line, wouldn't that effectively negate the problem?
  I don't know anything about the area or it's ecosystem. But it seems like being close to protected wilderness is kind of a prerequisite for this kind of thing, because you can't have human inhabitants nearby. And it seems that logically, large swaths of unoccupied land would be zoned as such until there was a need for some kind of development.
  
  One of the fundamental principals of the RCRA is that dilution is not an allowable solution to pollution. Otherwise, you could just say that any amount of pollution is below applicable concentrations after it mixed into the oceans, atmosphere, whatever. And any company could emit as much as they wanted as long as they diluted it. Oil spills could simply be left alone because they'd eventually distribute throughout the earth.
  Concentrations must be considered as they occur in their process streams. The process stream must meet certain requirements first and foremost, and it must be further checked to see if that could significantly affect the air or water in which it is emitted, just to make sure its good to go since water flow, temperature, and wildlife migration change throughout the year. The same is true for air emissions as well.
  
  I am far from an expert on the toxicity of mercury (and that's nearly certainly just one kind of pollutant in this scenario), but it seems unlikely this would solve the problem.
  The same amount of mercury is still being emitted, it just might lessen the amount that gets absorbed by immediately local soil... and just disperse it a bit more evenly over a longer range eventually mostly pooling along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.
  Which... is still part of a protected natural environment with endangered species living in it. As I recall, there is specifically a species of endangered turtles that live in this area, so, they're still fucked, along with I think some other endangered birds, reptile and small mammals.
  What they should have is a proper method of containing this dirty water, filtering and extracting dangerous chemicals, and a proper way of disposing those.
  But that would require foresight and planning, which is anathema to Musk's 'move fast and break stuff' style of 'rapid iteration'.
  Also, It is not true that large sections of uninhabited land are necessarily zoned as some kind of protected habitat. It is true there are lots of areas of the US where this is the case, but not totally.
  Musk was trying desperately to get NASA to let him use Cape Canaveral for Starship, but they viewed this (correctly, in hindsight) as too risky.
  So, when they said no, and he had deadlines to meet, basically said 'fuck it', took his existing facility and massively illegally upgraded it far beyond what was legally allowed by initial use permits, and just did everything Starship there, generally completely ignoring any concept of 'regulations' that might apply to this.
  He could have actually given investors and NASA themselves more realistic budget and timeframe ideas for how expensive and time consuming it would be to do this properly, but he did not.
- https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1823378186836889699
  CNBC updated its story yesterday with additional factually inaccurate information.
  While there may be a typo in one table of the initial TCEQ's public version of the permit application, the rest of the application and the lab reports clearly states that levels of Mercury found in non-stormwater discharge associated with the water deluge system are well below state and federal water quality criteria (of no higher than 2.1 micrograms per liter for acute aquatic toxicity), and are, in most instances, non-detectable.
  The initial application was updated within 30 days to correct the typo and TCEQ is updating the application to reflect the correction.
  
  Yes, thats what SpaceX is saying.
  As of right now, the original blurb I quoted from the CNBC article has been modified to this:
  SpaceX said in its response on X that there were “no detectable levels of mercury” found in its samples. But SpaceX wrote in its July permit application — under the header Specific Testing Requirements - Table 2 for Outfall: 001 — that its mercury concentration at one outfall location was 113 micrograms per liter. Water quality criteria in the state calls for levels no higher than 2.1 micrograms per liter for acute aquatic toxicity and much lower levels for human health
  CNBC is currently sticking with their report. This is not factually inaccurate information, it is a clarification, a specification.
  Perhaps SpaceX could actually provide evidence that they submitted a version with the typo fixed, that TCEQ is 'currently updating the application', or that other lab tests corroborate that the 0.113 number?
  Either way, doesn't change the number of complaints the TCEQ received, that SpaceX was releasing deluge water for roughly a year without permission to do so, that they were told to stop doing that and then did it again literally the next day.
- I highly suggest every one check out Common Sense Skeptic on YouTube
  They lost their credibility as soon as they started hating on Musk for clicks and views. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of valid criticism of Musk, but criticizing anything and everything related to Musk no matter what has become Common Sense Skeptic's entire brand and business strategy. I don't think they can be considered an unbiased party.

When sending probes to Mars or other rocky bodies, NASA is very careful about biological contamination. They don't want to seed the planet with some extremophile, or contaminate their own samples and mistakenly think it's native life.
When SpaceX wants to go to Mars and is also doing this shit, why should we trust them to take the same care?
- Planetary Protection is one of my absolute FAVORITE can of worms!! Obviously it is a good idea to be careful and mindful, but I personally believe that NASA's current policies are complete overkill.
  Let's think this through. Why don't we want to bring earth life to another world?
  Maybe because then we won't be able to tell whether it is indigenous or not? Baloney! Imagine you accidentally bring a lizard to an island that doesn't have them. If it is indigenous, there would be evidence of them being there in the past, through fossils or otherwise!
  Maybe we don't want to infect any life that is on that other planet, that earth life could take over that ecosystem like an invasive species? Astronomically unlikely. All earth life is evolved to live in its specific environment and to interact with the species with which it has evolved alongside. As such, totally unrelated organisms form different planets would be so completely alien to each other that they would be unlikely to interact to begin with. Additionally Mars, for example, definitively has no macro-fauna or flora. As such, any possible microbes on Mars would be completely at a loss on how to interact with humans or indeed any earth life.
  Finally, Earth and Mars, for example, exchange ~500 kilograms of material every year. Analysis shows that some of that material never exceeded a temperature high enough for sterilization. Thus, if there was any life on mars, it would have reached us by now, living in our biosphere along with us.
  Anyways I'm a big nerd and I hope this stuff is interesting!
  https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/06/mars-enthusiast-planetary-protection-a-racket-should-be-largely-ignored/
  
  Maybe we don’t want to infect any life that is on that other planet, that earth life could take over that ecosystem like an invasive species? Astronomically unlikely
  If you were to pick out any one microorganism and try to get it to grow on Mars without any support, you're right that it would probably die off. If you were to take a pile of random dirt full of microorganisms and drop it on Mars, they would also probably all die off. But if you keep doing this a lot with dirt and rocks from many different environments on Earth, you may eventually find one that thrives.
  There are organisms that carve out some tiny evolutionary niche until they have just the right conditions, and then explode. For example, Ideonella sakaiensis eats PET plastics. It was sitting around doing its thing for millions or billions of years, and then we gave it a place to thrive with all our plastic junk.
  There are places on Earth that have some similarities to Mars. It's quite possible something would survive there.

TCEQ has no power to enforce anything in Texas without the Governor and AG's cooperation. Mark my words. As long as Texas is run by conservatives, absolutely nothing at all will be done to protect the environment in Texas. Absolutely nothing. Everything related to the environment is performative in Texas, not substantive.
Conservatives delight in pollution. They equate pollution with freedom. Conservatives in Texas intentionally choose vehicles with the worst exhaust, they litter, they dump chemicals directly down drains, into sewers and into waterways, they "roll coal", they joyfully embrace chemical plants and they mock absolutely anyone who has any problem with dirty air or water. If you can't handle chemical-laden air, you are considered weak or "librul". Clean water is for pussies.
There's a reason the number one cancer research center in the U.S. is based in Houston. The air is famously polluted by nearby refineries that do not report what they release into the air to the public. They are permitted to "self-report" that they are not violating any rules, but there is no actual check performed by TCEQ without a great deal of advance notice and preparation.
Texas is a conservative haven of airborne and waterborne carcinogens. Musk knew that when he moved here. That's the reason polluters move here. Because conservatives fucking love pollution.
When I hear of a conservative in Texas getting a brutal form of cancer, I just smile and nod because I presume they've achieved their goal. It's the only silver lining in Texas, other than the silver-laden clouds.
- Agreed. I’ve read an article hear and there over the past couple years about this and how a reckoning is coming. Space-X leaving California in favor of Texas is too big an advertisement for their brand. They won’t do anything to upset the Musky child.
- Clean water is for pussies.
  Well when you only consume monster energy drinks and miller lite, why would you need water?
- Not 'conservatives'
  Nothing conservative about them
  
  I mean they are referred to as conservatives because of their predominantly archaic social and economical laws not because they conserve the ecology

And you just know Texas lawmakers were fine with this because the right people got paid off to look the other way by Musk.
The dangers of mercury poisoning are well understood. We're talking about insanity, paralysis and death. Nobody can pull a, "we had no idea" excuse. Google "Minimata Japan disaster" if you want to know what happens when a corporation poisons people with mercury for nearly 40 years.
- This is how they make more Republicans.
  
  I thought that was lead.
  
  This and dropping infants head first onto tiled floors.
  
  They are susceptible to various brain damaging chemicals
- https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1823378186836889699
  CNBC updated its story yesterday with additional factually inaccurate information.
  While there may be a typo in one table of the initial TCEQ's public version of the permit application, the rest of the application and the lab reports clearly states that levels of Mercury found in non-stormwater discharge associated with the water deluge system are well below state and federal water quality criteria (of no higher than 2.1 micrograms per liter for acute aquatic toxicity), and are, in most instances, non-detectable.
  The initial application was updated within 30 days to correct the typo and TCEQ is updating the application to reflect the correction.

What would they even be using mercury for?
- Dumping into the water. It is an overall expense, and not related to the business interests. They just needed some evil villain stuff going on because Elon really wants to meet Captain Planet.
  
  Elon probably picked up old timey hat making during one of his ketamine binges or something.
  
  If you make earth unlivable you can sell 8 billion tickets to Mars.
  
  Where did Captain Planet go when he wasn't summoned?
  
  Is he sure about that? Cap doesn't fuck around.
  
  The heart ring kid would make Elon's chest implode if he pointed that ring at him.
- Elon's daily dose. It takes a lot to get on his level.
  Just kidding, but it seems like something to do with the fuel/exhaust.
  I've read multiple articles and the most I've gotten is that their first launch didn't have the cleaner fuel that future launches did. I am not sure how that would cause repeated incidents... perhaps it's from metal parts in the rockets? 🤔 I could have missed something as I was reading but hopefully someone else will know the answer.
  
  Cleaner fuel? It's oxygen and methane. Carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, no mercury. Still I can't think of a source.
  
  If that kind of shit gets released on the ground, what gets released into the upper atmosphere?
- Pretty annoying the article doesn't even explain.
  
  It is possible that this entire story is based on two typos in the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality report.
- Texas government probably requires you poison people to operate in the State.
  
  Naturally. If people forget to turn off the poison sockets before bed, that’s their own problem!
- https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1823378186836889699
  CNBC updated its story yesterday with additional factually inaccurate information.
  While there may be a typo in one table of the initial TCEQ's public version of the permit application, the rest of the application and the lab reports clearly states that levels of Mercury found in non-stormwater discharge associated with the water deluge system are well below state and federal water quality criteria (of no higher than 2.1 micrograms per liter for acute aquatic toxicity), and are, in most instances, non-detectable.
  The initial application was updated within 30 days to correct the typo and TCEQ is updating the application to reflect the correction.
- Slippery consistency helps the highest bidder to slide up Elon’s bumhole more easily and efficiently. What you really want in this situation is a low energy threshold for financial turnover - in this case the point at which dollar bills are more than 50% up musks arse. Mercury gets that done, and Elon likes the taste, but unfortunately on this occasion it got into the water supply which is sad to see.
- This confused me as well. Upon closer inspection, it seems possible that this entire story is based on two typos in the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality report.

Nothing wrong with this after Trump wins, guts the EPA, and staffs it full of loyal cronies. This is one of the big goals for Project 2025.
Because regulations are bad, right?
- Texas already allows companies to pollute all they want. You see they are in charge of regulating themselves... Yeah you heard that right. They keep track of their own pollution and are responsible for reporting spills and accidents. No real penalties for lack of reporting either.

SpaceX has replied to the CNBC report
https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1823080774012481862
For those not wanting to click an X link
CNBC’s story on Starship’s launch operations in South Texas is factually inaccurate.
Starship’s water-cooled flame deflector system is critical equipment for SpaceX’s launch operations. It ensures flight safety and protects the launch site and surrounding area.
Also known as the deluge system, it applies clean, potable (drinking) water to the engine exhaust during static fire tests and launches to absorb the heat and vibration from the rocket engines firing. Similar equipment has long been used at launch sites across the United States – such as Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Stations in Florida, and Vandenberg Space Force Base in California – and across the globe.
SpaceX worked with the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ) throughout the build and test of the water deluge system at Starbase to identify a permit approach. TCEQ personnel were onsite at Starbase to observe the initial tests of the system in July 2023, and TCEQ’s website shows that SpaceX is covered by the Texas Multi-Sector General Permit.
When the EPA issued their Administrative Order in March 2024, it was done without an understanding of basic facts of the deluge system’s operation or acknowledgement that we were operating under the Texas Multi-Sector General Permit.
After we explained our operation to the EPA, they revised their position and allowed us to continue operating, but required us to obtain an Individual Permit from TCEQ, which will also allow us to expand deluge operations to the second pad. We’ve been diligently working on the permit with TCEQ, which was submitted on July 1st, 2024. TCEQ is expected to issue the draft Individual Permit and Agreed Compliance Order this week.
Throughout our ongoing coordination with both TCEQ and the EPA, we have explicitly asked if operation of the deluge system needed to stop and we were informed that operations could continue.
TCEQ and the EPA have allowed continued operations because the deluge system has always complied with common conditions set by an Individual Permit, and causes no harm to the environment. Specifically:
We only use potable (drinking) water in the system’s operation. At no time during the operation of the deluge system is the potable water used in an industrial process, nor is the water exposed to industrial processes before or during operation of the system.
The launch pad area is power-washed prior to activating the deluge system, with the power-washed water collected and hauled off.
The vast majority of the water used in each operation is vaporized by the rocket’s engines.
We send samples of the soil, air, and water around the pad to an independent, accredited laboratory after every use of the deluge system, which have consistently shown negligible traces of any contaminants. Importantly, while CNBC's story claims there are “very large exceedances of the mercury” as part of the wastewater discharged at the site, all samples to-date have in fact shown either no detectable levels of mercury whatsoever or found in very few cases levels significantly below the limit the EPA maintains for drinking water.
Retention ponds capture excess water and are specially lined to prevent any mixing with local groundwater. Any water captured in these ponds, including water from rainfall events, is pumped out and hauled off.
Finally, some water does leave the area of the pad, mostly from water released prior to ignition and after engine shutdown or launch. To give you an idea of how much: a single use of the deluge system results in potable water equivalent to a rainfall of 0.004 inches across the area outside the pad which currently averages around 27 inches of rain per year.
With Starship, we’re revolutionizing humanity’s ability to access space with a fully reusable rocket that plays an integral role in multiple national priorities, including returning humans to the surface of the Moon. SpaceX and its thousands of employees work tirelessly to ensure the United States remains the world’s leader in space, and we remain committed to working with our local and federal partners to be good stewards of the environment.
- Any and all claims being made by SpaceX should be verified by an objective third party. We should never simply take a company at their word, but that is especially true of a company that has Elon Musk, a man known to disseminate falsehoods as its Chair, CEO, and CTO.
  
  The cornerstone of all annual business ethics training so many drones (like me) have to endure every year: If you’re known for being dishonest, people will stop believing you. According to the training, they’ll also stop doing business with you, so maybe it’s a bit out of date.
  
  Musk != SpaceX
  Related, yes, but not equivalent.
- Water is hauled off... where? Beyond the environment?
  
  It's OK. There's a creek down the road that doesn't have any fish left. It goes right out to the gulf, so it's all good.
  
  Probably to a proper treatment facility like all other potentially bad water goes.
  
  Mars.
- while CNBC's story claims there are “very large exceedances of the mercury” as part of the wastewater discharged at the site, all samples to-date have in fact shown either no detectable levels of mercury whatsoever or found in very few cases levels significantly below the limit the EPA maintains for drinking water.
  I think this discrepancy may have been caused by a typo in the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality report.
  
  Texas allows pollutors to self-report in "good faith". Why would we give any credence at all to a self-report (or hired self-report)?
  If the EPA or TCEQ didn't measure it themselves during an unscheduled visit, then all measurements should be disregarded.
  
  Wow.
  I wonder what CNBC is gonna say about that.
  That's pretty embarrassing if that's what happened partially triggering this article.
  Also that poor person who wrote the report up is probably going to get an earful too now.
- https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1823378186836889699
  CNBC updated its story yesterday with additional factually inaccurate information.
  While there may be a typo in one table of the initial TCEQ's public version of the permit application, the rest of the application and the lab reports clearly states that levels of Mercury found in non-stormwater discharge associated with the water deluge system are well below state and federal water quality criteria (of no higher than 2.1 micrograms per liter for acute aquatic toxicity), and are, in most instances, non-detectable.
  The initial application was updated within 30 days to correct the typo and TCEQ is updating the application to reflect the correction.
- we have explicitly asked if operation of the deluge system needed to stop
  If that question is being asked then maybe it should be stopped.
  
  What a weird take to make.
  They are constantly in talks with these people. They probably ask this exact question every time they've used it and sent them more data about it.
  Should you stop eating? I think you better since the question is being asked!

Don’t just blame Elon/ SpaSex, blame Texas republicans for allowing this “California Elite” to poison Texas water

Maybe people will finally stop praising SpaceX?
- SpaceX fans have known about this for a long time now, and they just don't care. They've shouted down anyone who has pointed it out for well over a year now
- Edit: and it looks like this entire story may have been based on a typo.
  I mean, it depends how egregious / serious this violation is and how crucial it is to the rest of their overall successes.
  Elon sucks, but for the same amount of money, NASA can either launch 150 tons of science missions 1 per year on SLS, or they can launch 170 tons of science missions every 2 weeks on Starship.
  Quite frankly I don't understand why they've gotten the level of hate they've gotten (and why some people seem so intent on finding ways to hate them), other than their association with their dumbass ceo.
  
  SpaceX is cool, Elon is the world’s most colossal asshole. Some people won’t separate the two because they rightfully don’t want to enable him.
  Shotwell could run the whole thing herself, I wish the government would step in and cut Musk out of it entirely.
  
  I'd rather NASA be funded well enough to not need private, profit-driven, corporations dictating how we explore space. That and Musk's stench sticks to all his companies, for good or bad.
  
  There's a great synopsis of the situation further up the thread, but the short is:
  SpaceX originally wasn't going to launch rockets from this facility... until they announced that they were, then asked for permission from the regulatory bodies after their first launch.
  When concerns were raised about the rockets being launched half a kilometer from nature preservation land, and specifically in regard to the possibility of failed launches damaging the launchpad, Elon assured them that no such thing could happen... and then a quarter of the launchpad was destroyed by a failed launch.
  So they installed the water deluge system, again asking for permission after they had already installed and used it.
  Within their permit application for the system - which, again, was installed and used before the application was even submitted - are mercury measurements 50x higher than the Texas maximum threshold for acute mercury toxicity, and far higher than the thresholds for human safety.
  The Elon hate is one thing, and I believe much of the hate for SpaceX is because of how he handles himself and his companies. But the general assurance has largely been that SpaceX has a team of handlers to keep him from screwing things up, and it sounds more like Boeing over there every day.
  They may have Elon on a leash, but they seem to be running his playbook anyway.
  
  Elon sucks, but for the same amount of money, NASA can either launch 150 tons of science missions 1 per year on SLS, or they can launch 170 tons of science missions every 2 weeks on Starship.
  Maybe the latter is like, bad for the planet?
  https://www.statesman.com/story/news/state/2024/06/28/spacex-is-destroying-earths-ozone-layer-elon-musk-new-study/74171065007/
- https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1823378186836889699
  CNBC updated its story yesterday with additional factually inaccurate information.
  While there may be a typo in one table of the initial TCEQ's public version of the permit application, the rest of the application and the lab reports clearly states that levels of Mercury found in non-stormwater discharge associated with the water deluge system are well below state and federal water quality criteria (of no higher than 2.1 micrograms per liter for acute aquatic toxicity), and are, in most instances, non-detectable.
  The initial application was updated within 30 days to correct the typo and TCEQ is updating the application to reflect the correction.

Y'all actually need to read the article before commenting:
One of the major initial concerns—the wastewater’s mercury content—stems from what experts believe may be egregious typos within SpaceX’s records. Lab reports indicate polluted waters contained 0.113 μg/L of mercury, while subsequent summaries appear to misplace the decimal point to show 113 μg/L. If the former measurement is accurate, then Starship’s wastewater contains roughly 1/17th the legal mercury limit.
SpaceX has done some shady shit regarding their environmental practices, but this claim about mercury just ain't it. Some of the comments further down go into more detail.
- That says if the former figure is accurate... But if it's the latter? Then it's 100 times more than 1/17th which would mean it's waaay more than the legal limit... So it depends in which is the typo.
  
  I'm going to assume a lab report is more accurate than its summary.

One of the many reasons he moved to Texas. This is what you get when your state is so “business friendly”. All the complaining about California and the related regulations, but this is what those regulations are supposed to prevent (yes I know there are still plenty of examples of companies polluting in CA).
The Chevron ruling is absolutely a blatant effort to neuter all of these government oversight departments to allow businesses to accelerate their “line go up” polluting efforts.
- The thing is California used to do the same thing. They invited everyone to California with business incentives, but eventually they had to start putting in regulations because they realized things had gotten out of control.
  Texas today is what California was in the 60s and 70s.

Why is there mercury in the deluge water? Where is it coming from? It's not 'regular water' somehow?
- That confused me as well. It seems possible that this entire story is based on two typos in the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality report.
- https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1823378186836889699
  CNBC updated its story yesterday with additional factually inaccurate information.
  While there may be a typo in one table of the initial TCEQ's public version of the permit application, the rest of the application and the lab reports clearly states that levels of Mercury found in non-stormwater discharge associated with the water deluge system are well below state and federal water quality criteria (of no higher than 2.1 micrograms per liter for acute aquatic toxicity), and are, in most instances, non-detectable.
  The initial application was updated within 30 days to correct the typo and TCEQ is updating the application to reflect the correction.

Abbott doesn't care. Paxton doesn't give a shit as he counts his bribe money.
And strangely enough, republicans want to do away with the EPA. Weird.

So? Having Drinking Water that DOESNT make you sick is NOT Pro Life!
- You're telling me the part that doesn't care about feeding kids, universal health care, clean water, and clean air but is pro gun, pro war, and pro forced birth isn't Pro Life? SHOCKED!
- Nowhere in the constitution does it say you get clean drinking water, sorry sweaty.
  
  And for that matter it doesn’t say you get air conditioning either!

I wish some good old boys would force musk and his lackeys to drink and swim in that water, it's the right thing to do and rase them much higher in my eyes

It's what they voted for.

Can we revoke his government contracts now?
- https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1823378186836889699
  CNBC updated its story yesterday with additional factually inaccurate information.
  While there may be a typo in one table of the initial TCEQ's public version of the permit application, the rest of the application and the lab reports clearly states that levels of Mercury found in non-stormwater discharge associated with the water deluge system are well below state and federal water quality criteria (of no higher than 2.1 micrograms per liter for acute aquatic toxicity), and are, in most instances, non-detectable.
  The initial application was updated within 30 days to correct the typo and TCEQ is updating the application to reflect the correction.

I think we would’ve noticed if they had crashed an entire planet into Texas, right?

And to think it took this much self-inflicted falling from grace before it became admissible to point that "boy genius"'s enterprises should be prosecuted as much as anybody else for wrongdoing.

Worker's rights transgressions? Yes. Bulldozing a frog pond? Yes. Dumping mercury? No, that makes no sense. I can't see where mercury would be introduced in any meaningful quantities.
- Well, if *YOU * don't see any reason to worry we should probably just assume they aren't polluting then.
  Thanks for setting us straight.
  
  Well, I hope some will question the validity of this particular claim after reading my comment. Many more will probably question it after reading the comments, from others, that have found the measurements to likely be recorded incorrectly.
  If someone made an accusation of pollution with a substance I could see them using or producing, I would be more inclined to believe it.

The article has no details about the mercury beyond what is in the title. The specific issues it does talk about are things like water runoff, noise that frightens animals, and even "proximity to indigenous sacred lands" which are all, to be frank, trivial. Mercury (in significant amounts) is a problem. But a rocket making noise? Yeah, they do that.
- The original cnbc report linked in the article posted states their application asked for 113 micrograms per liter of mercury for discharge. Texas considers 2.1 to be toxic to aquatic life and less than that for human life.
  They also mention their application didn’t mention the temperature of the water discharge which could also be a problem if we are trying not to boil the wildlife near the pad.
  
  113 micrograms per liter of mercury
  This may have been a typo in the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality report.
- https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1823378186836889699
  CNBC updated its story yesterday with additional factually inaccurate information.
  While there may be a typo in one table of the initial TCEQ's public version of the permit application, the rest of the application and the lab reports clearly states that levels of Mercury found in non-stormwater discharge associated with the water deluge system are well below state and federal water quality criteria (of no higher than 2.1 micrograms per liter for acute aquatic toxicity), and are, in most instances, non-detectable.
  The initial application was updated within 30 days to correct the typo and TCEQ is updating the application to reflect the correction.
- They also do that in Florida. Where many of the pads are in a conservation area. Launching from those types of areas isn't new, rocket launches are a well known impact.
  Don't ever see anyone talking about the NASA launch sites when these things are brought up. Always seems to be articles where the SpaceX stuff is in a vacuum and no one else launches or has launch pads to compare against.
  Not saying that contamination shouldn't be researched, just that much of the reporting seems to have a motivation behind it that isn't what it claims to be.
  
  Because NASA treats its waste water like every other sane responsible rocket company or government agency.
  
  What about the uproar between native Hawaiians and Nasa over observatories being built on sacred native land? It's not launch pads but Nasa has definitely pissed ppl off

That explains a lot.

I can see why Elon hates government regulatory bodies.
How dare they stop him poisoning millions of people and entire ecosystems, causing irreparable damage just so he can save a few bucks on waste disposal fees? This is so unfair!
- If we are going to say that foreign members can't own large media companies aka Tiktok, maybe we could expand it to all media companies to ensure a certain Australian has to sell his, and government contracts all be required to be owned by naturalized americans as well. Seems like they have proven are a huge threat and have violated multiple factors of our government/ laws
  
  If you're referring to Murdoch, unfortunately he is a US citizen...
- TECQ stops him about as much as a stick stops a bulldozer.
  The first, and so far, only fine they've issued for his violations at his Boring Co / Space X site outside of Austin, amounted to a little under $12,000. This is after at least 13 violations that include water contamination, runoff and erosion, and air quality violations.
  He hates them the same way one hates a fly.
- https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1823378186836889699
  CNBC updated its story yesterday with additional factually inaccurate information.
  While there may be a typo in one table of the initial TCEQ's public version of the permit application, the rest of the application and the lab reports clearly states that levels of Mercury found in non-stormwater discharge associated with the water deluge system are well below state and federal water quality criteria (of no higher than 2.1 micrograms per liter for acute aquatic toxicity), and are, in most instances, non-detectable.
  The initial application was updated within 30 days to correct the typo and TCEQ is updating the application to reflect the correction.

Drop the hammer on them.

Extremely not based >:(
- Cringe, some might say

Eric Roesch did a number of blog posts on this issue throughout 2023.
Glad it's only taken a year for the rest of the news media to get their head out of their ass.

If you’re a star they let you do it.

Wonder if Texans suddenly be on the side of regulation and environmental policies or if we’ll start hearing about how mercury is what plants crave or something

I remember this article from a couple days ago where some chess player poisoned their opponent's board with mercury, and I'd like to believe they copied this strategy from Musk's SpaceX. He is truly a visionary and innovator, inspiring chess players to discover new strategies.

Did you even read the article? It says in the article that the mercury waste is actually way below the legal threshhold.
One of the major initial concerns—the wastewater’s mercury content—stems from what experts believe may be egregious typos within SpaceX’s records. Lab reports indicate polluted waters contained 0.113 μg/L of mercury, while subsequent summaries appear to misplace the decimal point to show 113 μg/L. If the former measurement is accurate, then Starship’s wastewater contains roughly 1/17th the legal mercury limit.
About people just mindlessly hating on SpaceX: SpaceX is really important for the US society as it provides vision and a specific type of stimulation that would otherwise be hard to get. What makes you think the moon landings of 1960s/1970s were great achievements, but spaceflight today is not?
You telling SpaceX to stop operation is like a fish telling a bird to stop flying, because swimming is sooo much better.
- Which measurement is accurate? The former, or the latter?
  You also fail to reference the next statement: "... This, however, does not explain SpaceX’s numerous other alleged reporting issues, regulatory side steps, and disregard for federal and local concerns. In a blog post last year, environmental engineer Eric Roesch also pointed to previous SpaceX water samples reports that appear to omit measurements for nickel, a toxic metal. Meanwhile, the same chart lists multiple pollutants at concentrations at or above TCEQ and EPA standards, including total suspended solids, cyanide, copper, and chromium."
- Lol
- What makes you think the moon landings of 1960s/1970s were great achievements, but spaceflight today is not?
  probably because we literally invented digital computers for the purposes of doing it. The amount of technical construction and mathematics knowledge required to design build and manufacture the hardware of that era is lost, the space shuttle is one of the most incredible technical achievements of the US to date.
  SpaceX doesn't even use large rocket engines because they're hard to build and impractical, but we managed them perfectly fine in the 70s

Yo gen alpha with mercury in their brains?

Guess what, sending rocket in orbit is one of the most polluting business out there and most of it it's done for business
- Is it? As far as I can tell rocket launches don't cause that much pollution compared to a coal powerplant, or the hundreds of daily airline flights.
  
  Cargo ships are probably up there as some of the worst. They burn copious amounts of really dirty fuel.
  
  Oh you are right coal is worst we can keep blowing up rockets and send them in orbit so that billionares can have their nice trip to space

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