When jargon meets real life

Remember that mercury-contaminated daycare site? Turns out that the reason it was issued a permit is because the EPA declared that it "does not present an immediate threat" -- by that, they meant that it wasn't contaminating other sites, wasn't dangerous to walk past, and generally didn't require immediate intervention (i.e., federal clean-up). But you can't really blame a regular bureaucrat for thinking it meant "isn't dangerous anymore." eesh.