SpaceX says that there may be a typo in the application that they filed. The TLDR also includes this in the section preceding the mention of mercury:
>Teague, who has more than three decades of water quality and coastal planning experience, told CNBC the application was full of holes, missing basic details about water discharge volumes, the temperature of the effluent and outfall locations.
The italics around "may" makes me think you misunderstood. If I said "I may be forgetful, but I'm no liar", I am admitting to be forgetful.
There is no ambiguity here. SpaceX said "The initial application was updated within 30 days to correct the typo" because they definitely made a typo. The rest of their explanation pretty conclusively shows that this is a non-issue, as is the incomplete application.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/12/spacex-repeatedly-polluted-w...