SpaceX Responds:

CNBC’s story on Starship’s launch operations in South Texas is factually inaccurate. ... We only use potable (drinking) water in the system’s operation. ... 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. ...

https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1823080774012481862

It's nonsense, for example there is no "I used pure water in the input to the process" exemption; why would there be, the output is what matters. And I believe even unprocessed potable water can be illegal to dump due to the presence of chlorine/fluorine.

They say they are collecting the water, not dumping it. They say they even collect rain water that lands in the ponds in case it is contaminated.

The cops came by to arrest the criminal but luckily the criminal quickly thought of a brilliant scheme.

“I didn’t commit the crime and, in fact, I hold myself to a higher standard than the law requires.”

Crestfallen the police walk away. “It’s air tight, bullet proof really. He said he didn’t do it so case closed.”

Yes they say a lot of things, for example they say they have a permit to do this for example but the permit is for a different purpose (storm water, not industrial process discharge). But among the claims they make the one you cite is not one. They say "finally, some water does leave the area of the pad, mostly from water released prior to ignition and after engine shutdown or launch."

Look this is very simple: this is one of the most basic environmental laws (don't dump stuff into the river), which requires you demonstrate that you are not in fact dumping stuff into the river. You do that through the permitting process. If SpaceX is doing all the correct things there should be no problem getting a permit like everyone else does.

Again this is not some government over-reach, this is probably the first 1-2 environmental regulations you would come up with and which no one would disagree with. There isn't an exception for being a very cool dude.

I'm curious where do they use mercury in their processes...