There have been multiple accounts created with the sole purpose of posting advertisement posts or replies containing unsolicited advertising.

Accounts which solely post advertisements, or persistently post them may be terminated.

SpaceX accused of dumping mercury into Texas waters for years

SpaceX’s Starship launches at the company’s Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas, have allegedly been contaminating local bodies of water with mercury for years. The news arrives in an exclusive https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/12/spacex-repeatedly-polluted-waters-in-texas-tceq-epa-found.html on August 12, which cites internal documents and communications between local Texas regulators and the Environmental Protection Agency.

SpaceX’s fourth Starship test launch in June was its most successful so far—but the world’s largest and most powerful rocket ever built continues to wreak havoc on nearby Texas communities, wildlife, and ecosystems. But after repeated admonishments, reviews, and ignored requests, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) have had enough.

index ,

Guess what, sending rocket in orbit is one of the most polluting business out there and most of it it’s done for business

FilthyShrooms ,

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.

NotMyOldRedditName ,

Cargo ships are probably up there as some of the worst. They burn copious amounts of really dirty fuel.

PlutoniumAcid ,
@PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world avatar

Yup. They burn heavy bunker fuel - the sludge that is too bad to be used for anything else.

Considering the amount of shipping, it’s horrendous.

But - and there’s always another view - I don’t know how much energy you’d need to use to haul that much cargo by other means like rail and trucks. One container ship carries as much as a thousand trains could carry. Vessels are really, really large, which make them quite effective.

cows_are_underrated ,

And trains can’t cross Oceans. Even tho that cargo ships need a shit load of fuel it isn’t that much per ton of cargo due to the efficiency and sheer mass they are carrying

NotMyOldRedditName , (edited )

SpaceX has replied to the CNBC report

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.

Tja ,

Water is hauled off… where? Beyond the environment?

NotMyOldRedditName ,

Probably to a proper treatment facility like all other potentially bad water goes.

Burn_The_Right ,

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.

threelonmusketeers ,

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.

NotMyOldRedditName ,

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.

Burn_The_Right ,

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.

Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In ,

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.

NotMyOldRedditName ,

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!

Burn_The_Right ,

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.

WalnutLum ,

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.

ZealousSealion ,

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.

sp3tr4l ,

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.

teamevil ,

Good thing the supreme Court expects companies to not do this shit

Fuckfuckmyfuckingass ,
@Fuckfuckmyfuckingass@lemmy.world avatar

Thank you very much for the synopsis. I am disgusted and unsurprised.

PrincessLeiasCat ,

I’m very curious as to who this NASA admin is…no name comes to mind?

villainy ,

Kathy Lueders

PrincessLeiasCat ,

Thank you!

sp3tr4l ,

Ah you beat me to it, I stepped away for dinner =P

Wrench ,

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.

sp3tr4l ,

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.

threelonmusketeers ,

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.

It is also important to note that the dirtiness of the water may have been misreported. It seems possible that this story is based on two typos in the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality report. The actual concentration of mercury may be 1000x lower.

FabledAepitaph ,

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.

sp3tr4l ,

Thank you for some more specific commentary on this.

I had a gut feeling that uh… reverse homeopathy probably is not a legitimate methodology to approach environmental toxins with.

NotMyOldRedditName ,

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.

Raiderkev ,

Don’t worry, with the Chevron ruling out of the way, this can be thrown out in court and promptly swept under the rug. 💪🇺🇲🦅

threelonmusketeers ,

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.

threelonmusketeers , (edited )

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.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Maybe people will finally stop praising SpaceX?

masterspace ,

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.

pennomi ,

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.

masterspace ,

People who blame the thousands of hard working engineers at SpaceX for Elon’s follies are committing the exact same logical fallacies as the people who hero worship him and praise him for what is the hard work of all those engineers.

It’s very easy to say in one sentence that Elon sucks and what SpaceX is doing is pretty wild and revolutionary, yet people like the OP I’m responding to seem bothered by even that.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

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?

www.statesman.com/story/news/…/74171065007/

masterspace ,

Hmm, did you read that article before posting it?

Because Im struggling to see how Starship, a fully reusable spaceship made out of stainless steel, is going to deplete the ozone the way that aluminum satellites do when they are deorbited and burned up…

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

What exactly do you think SpaceX is regularly launching into space? Because it isn’t Starship.

masterspace ,

You literally quoted me talking about Starship, and the article OP linked is about Starship.

SpaceX is going to launch the ~4000 satellites it has permits for, starship doesn’t change that in any way shape or form.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

or they can launch 170 tons of science missions every 2 weeks on Starship.

Your words? Because, again, it’s not Starship they’re launching every two weeks.

masterspace ,

Yes, it is. That is using their projected budget and the launch cadence that’s possible with both SLS and Starship. SLS can at most launch twice a year, Starship will be able to launch every two weeks, and costs orders of magnitude less.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

And meanwhile, SpaceX will destroy the ozone layer with endless Starlink launches, so maybe let’s not praise them, like I initially said?

masterspace , (edited )

My god. What do you do for a living? Does it have no effect on the environment in any way shape or form?

They literally just discovered that Starlink satellites are having that effect, and you have given them precisely zero time to even try and address and fix it. And in the meantime I literally just came back from a remote first Nations community that only has high quality internet because of it, amongst virtually every rural community in the world.

Honestly, disconnect yourself from the internet before you spend any time looking into the environmental impact of your phone, the servers you use, and the billions of miles of fibre optic cables that connect everything. Because if that’s the kind of blood that prevents you from praising a company that is literally revolutionizing space launch, then literally nothing any of us ever do is worth praising because it’s all built on a giant foundation of blood.

Hell, those solar thermal power plants that use mirrors to reflect light onto molten salts originally killed a whole bunch of birds. Are they bastards for trying to build out a new technology, realizing there’s environmental consequences, and then finding ways of addressing it?

Peppycito ,

Do you know what the clouds coming out of the engines at shut down and start up are? Methane and oxygen. Do you think injecting methane into the upper atmosphere does the earth any favours?

masterspace ,

Huh, if only NASA Earth’s science budget could stretch farther somehow so they could better monitor and tell us… now I wonder how they could reduce their mission costs by orders of magnitude…

johker216 ,

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.

masterspace ,

They literally are.

That’s what SLS is, a rocket built by NASA using their traditional contractors and it costs orders of magnitude more to do the literal exact same thing.

Again, I get that Musk sucks, but hating on the hardwork of thousands of engineers and personnel because of what one of the employees does in their free time is just as biased as everyone who irrationally praises Musk for what is the hardwork of thousands.

The folly of hero worship cuts both ways.

halcyoncmdr ,
@halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world avatar

SLS does it the old way, with NASA contracting work out to the old school companies.

The Commercial Crew and Supply contracts are there to try it a different way. And they’re accomplishing their goals much more quickly and at a fraction of the cost.

EldritchFeminity , (edited )

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.

NotMyOldRedditName , (edited )

They got approval from the fish and wildlife agency before launching with the deluge system

tpr.org/…/faa-gives-ok-to-spacex-for-second-stars…

Published November 16, 2023 at 9:00 AM CST

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved SpaceX’s next Starship launch, just hours after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) concluded its assessment of the rocket’s launch infrastructure.

The FAA gave the company a launch license Wednesday afternoon, saying Starship and its new launch infrastructure would have “no significant environmental changes” for its second launch.

FWS stated that SpaceX’s water deluge system, meant to suppress the flames and sound from the rocket’s 33 engines, would produce the same amount of water from an average rainfall. The agency does not expect the water to change the mud flats’ salinity or affect shorebird habitat.

*emphasis mine.

Flight 2 was on November 18th, 2 days after they get approval for the deluge system.

Edit: further, spacex has replied to this and said the following (among other things as well)

x.com/SpaceX/status/1823080774012481862

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.

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.

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.

masterspace ,

Heavy metals are some of the worst things to dump into the environment, and I’m curious to see where the mercury is coming from, why they’re using it, and how they’re going to address it, but it really feels like you’re blowing up a relatively small issue into a massive one.

They had one launch where they blew up the launch pad accidentally, so they added a deluge system to cope. Now there’s mercury toxicity downstream of the site, but it’s not clear it has anything to do with the deluge system.

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.

That absolutely is where most of it comes from. Articles that hate on Elon get clicks, so for every actual thoughtful nuanced critique of SpaceX, there’s two dozen click bait articles written by glorified bloggers that will look for any flaw because critiques of Musk’s space company drives traffic.

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.

Boeing is failing to do what they used to do 50 years ago. SpaceX is successfully doing things that no one has ever done. Yes the wreckless rule breaking is trademark Elon, but let’s not be hyperbolic.

threelonmusketeers ,

I’m curious to see where the mercury is coming from, why they’re using it, and how they’re going to address it

So was I. Upon closer inspection, it seems possible that this entire story is based on two typos in the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality report.

for every actual thoughtful nuanced critique of SpaceX, there’s two dozen click bait articles written by glorified bloggers

This story may have been on of the latter.

threelonmusketeers ,

mercury measurements 50x higher than the Texas maximum threshold for acute mercury toxicity

It is possible that this entire story is based on two typos in the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality report.

Atrichum ,

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

iAmTheTot ,

I would be exactly 0% shocked to learn this was true.

ShepherdPie ,

I’d be shocked if Abbott didn’t try to give them a Texas Medal of Freedom award for doing this.

HoustonHenry ,

And for removing water breaks for workers when it’s really hot out

meco03211 ,

Or… I could see him mandating more water breaks… provided it comes from the test area. People in the biz refer to that as remediation.

Plastic_Ramses ,

And with Chevron ruling they wont face any repercussions!

Isnt crony capitalism great!?!?!?!

threelonmusketeers ,

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_RICK ,
@NOT_RICK@lemmy.world avatar

What would they even be using mercury for?

acetanilide ,

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.

Peppycito ,

If that kind of shit gets released on the ground, what gets released into the upper atmosphere?

Atrichum ,

CO2 and water. The rocket fuel is not the source of the mercury.

Peppycito ,

The pumps need to be running full bore before ignition and keep running after cut off. Watch a video of shut off and tell me where they’re keeping all that CO^2 and water on the rocket.

SkaveRat ,

What?

Peppycito ,

At shut off and start up the rocket pumps methane and oxygen into the atmosphere before ignition. The Falcon 9 pumps kerosene and oxygen. Watch the live streams and look at the engines at meco.

Atrichum ,

Cleaner fuel? It’s oxygen and methane. Carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, no mercury. Still I can’t think of a source.

acetanilide ,

The article I read said they didn’t use that until after the first launch. I did not look into it further.

threelonmusketeers ,

I couldn’t think of a source either. Upon closer inspection, it seems possible that this entire story is based on two typos in the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality report.

cannibalkitteh ,

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.

MegaUltraChicken ,

Elon probably picked up old timey hat making during one of his ketamine binges or something.

NegativeInf ,

That would mean that Elon has any amount of skill.

I very much doubt it.

Fester ,

Oh it just means he acquired a servant that has 30+ years experience in old timey hat making. But he’s rich, so we speak as if it’s him that’s doing it.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Where did Captain Planet go when he wasn’t summoned?

Iheartcheese ,
@Iheartcheese@lemmy.world avatar

Sawcon.

jonne ,

If you make earth unlivable you can sell 8 billion tickets to Mars.

TransplantedSconie ,

Is he sure about that? Cap doesn’t fuck around.

casmael ,

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.

treadful ,
@treadful@lemmy.zip avatar

Pretty annoying the article doesn’t even explain.

threelonmusketeers ,

It is possible that this entire story is based on two typos in the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality report.

Dramaking37 ,

Texas government probably requires you poison people to operate in the State.

casmael ,

Naturally. If people forget to turn off the poison sockets before bed, that’s their own problem!

threelonmusketeers ,

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.

ArbitraryValue ,

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.

halcyoncmdr ,
@halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world avatar

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.

Cosmonauticus ,

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

halcyoncmdr ,
@halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world avatar

I never said they didn’t piss people off. But we’re talking about concerns at a launch site. An observatory and a launch site have nearly zero in common.

LifeInMultipleChoice ,

So your defense is that what they are doing, someone else may have done or done something you consider equally as wrong? I don’t need to make a strawman/example/anything for you, I think you already know it is morally/ethically wrong.

Atrichum ,

Because NASA treats its waste water like every other sane responsible rocket company or government agency.

socphoenix ,

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.

threelonmusketeers ,

113 micrograms per liter of mercury

This may have been a typo in the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality report.

TTimo ,

Why is there mercury in the deluge water? Where is it coming from? It’s not ‘regular water’ somehow?

threelonmusketeers ,

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.

drunkpostdisaster ,

It’s what they voted for.

DaddleDew ,

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!

LifeInMultipleChoice ,

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

Kowowow ,

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

casmael ,

Extremely not based >:(

SeekPie ,

Cringe, some might say

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • [email protected]
  • random
  • lifeLocal
  • goranko
  • All magazines
    •