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Post-Tribune (Gary, Indiana) MERCURY INCIDENT CLEARS ANOTHER SCHOOL Wednesday, October 27, 1999 By The Associated Press North Grove Elementary School in Greenwood, south of Indianapolis, was evacuated Monday after a student brought liquid mercury to school and spilled some inside the building. Firefighters hosed off more than 20 students and some staff members who feared they came in contact with the substance, said Lt. Carey Slauter of the White River Township Fire Department. A hazardous-materials team from the Greenwood Fire Department was called to help decontaminate the people and the building. No one was injured or required hospitalization. A 9-year-old student apparently found a metal tube containing mercury in his family's garage and brought it to school to show other students, Center Grove Superintendent Denney French. Meanwhile, in Gary, state and federal officials assured parents their children’s health wasn't compromised by exposure to mercury at an elementary school last week. Eighth grade students at Sister Thea Bowman Elementary School last Wednesday found three vials of mercury in a science class, removed it and played with it. By day's end, students had contaminated two classroom floors, desks, window ledges, empty school lockers, stairways, heating ducts and a portion of the school cafeteria. The mercury apparently got on the children's clothing and was spread through the school on their clothing and shoes. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency canceled classes Friday for a cleanup. Touching mercury does not pose an immediate threat to humans, but long-term exposure to low levels of mercury in the air can damage the nervous system and can impair development of motor abilities and memory in children. Classes resumed Monday. Officials
from IDEM, the EPA and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry met
with parents, students and school staff members Monday evening to ease fears
over their children's safety. Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan) MERCURY SPILL SHUTS DETROIT SCHOOL EPA WILL CONDUCT TESTS AFTER ACCIDENT IN CLASS DETROIT FREE PRESS By JAMES C. HILL FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER Date: Tuesday, May 9, 2000; Page: SB Edition: METRO FINAL, 2 DOT Section: NWS Detroit’s Miller Middle School will be closed today and possibly Wednesday while health and environmental officials finished cleaning up a small amount of mercury that students spilled in a science class just before school was dismissed Monday. Students apparently were playing with about an ounce of the toxic substance in a sealed vial when it spilled, said district spokesman Stan Childress. About 30 students and a teacher were present, he said. Principal Pierre Hendrix did not immediately return a phone call Monday night. There is a possibility that students may have tracked through the mercury because some beads of the substance were found in the hallway, Childress said. The spill occurred about 2:30 p.m., as students were being dismissed, Childress said. Health and environmental officials cleaned up the spill in the 820-pupil school at 2322 Duflois Street. Childress said school personnel were calling parents of the students who were in the classroom to recommend that they take them to physicians for a mercury test, which involves taking blood and urine samples. Parents needing help in getting the testing should contact the school. He said the school also is advising parents of the children who were present for the spill to double-wrap their children's clothing in plastic and put it outside the home. Environmental Protection Agency officials will collect the clothing to test it for contamination, Childress said. EPA officials were en route to Detroit from Cleveland on Monday evening. They'll conduct air-quality tests at the school because as mercury dries, it oxidizes and can turn into a toxic gas~ Childress said. Any decision on keeping the school closed on Wednesday will be made after testing is completed today, Chudress said. He said symptoms associated with mild exposure to mercury can include irritability, short-term memory loss and mood swings. There are more serious symptoms associated with prolonged exposure, including rashes on the palms and feet. The Blade (Toledo, Ohio) MERCURY SCARE KEEPS SCHOOL SHUT Article ID: 0005020018 Published on 0510212000 THE BLADE, TOLEDO, OHIO Jefferson Middle School will remain closed today as local health officials wait to determine whether traces of mercury are left from what was found in the building and on three of the districts buses during Easter break. The mercury was discovered when a parent reported that her 14-year-old son had stolen about two ounces of the highly toxic liquid metal from a school science lab and taken it home. Trace amounts of mercury were found last week in various parts of the building and on three buses, Jefferson Superintendent Donna Schmidt said. An outside contractor was called in to clean up the sites that had been contaminated. The results were expected to be available today from air quality tests completed on Saturday. The school was shut down last week for Easter break, and students had been scheduled to return for classes yesterday. However, local health officials did not want to risk exposure to the students. About 600 sixth to eighth graders will have to make up the two days of classes. That likely will be scheduled in June, the superintendent said. Mercury can be extremely toxic to humans, especially infants and developing fetuses. In large amounts, it can damage the brain, kidneys, and lungs. It is used in many household items, including thermometers and batteries. School officials believe the theft of mercury may have occurred as early as March. Monroe County health officials learned of it April 6 when the boy's mother called when she discovered the mercury. Dr Schmidt said she didn't learn of the incident until April 20, however. The boy's home was contaminated. Blood tests were done on the youth, his parents, and two siblings. The tests showed elevated levels of mercury in their blood streams. The superintendent said the boy, who is in the eighth grade, will face a disciplinary hearing for the theft of the mercury when he returns for classes. She said the mercury had been used by a science teacher in the school to demonstrate density, and that the boy had stolen the teacher's entire sample. Dr. Carl Schmidt, Monroe County medical director, who is no relation to the Jefferson superintendent, signed the letter authorizing the home where the boy lives to be closed for cleaning. He said mercury contamination is pervasive, like chocolate in the hands of a small child, "You find it in the carpet, on the drapes, in the couch. It gets all over," the medical director said. "It won't kill you instantly, but it's not a good thing to ingest." The Green Bay News (Green Bay, Wisconsin) Settlement reached over East High School
mercury An attorney for the school district calls it
the "last loose end to be tied up" By Kevin Moore News-Chronicle The Green Bay School District has reached an out of-court settlement with Superior Special Services over a disputed bill for cleaning up East High School after a student stole mercury from a chemistry classroom and the school was contaminated with the toxic chemical when students handled the mercury. There were no injuries involved in the March 5, 1999, incident. Superior Special Services of Fond du Lac originally submitted a bill for $230,000 for the cleanup, which included a private residence and bowling alley. A school district statement called the original billing "excessive and unreasonable." Under the settlement of the suit filed Jan.27 by Superior Special Services, the two parties agreed to a charge of $175,000. The seven-member School Board will vote Monday whether to accept the settlement. The settlement brings to an end the protracted negotiations between the district and Superior and it avoids further significant costs and risks associated with continued litigation," Ann Patterson, attorney for the school district, said in a written statement. Patterson said the school closed in the latter part of the afternoon on the Friday of the incident, and remained closed the following Monday and Tuesday while the mercury was cleaned up. The mercury was in a vial for an upcoming science experiment, Patterson said. It may have been up to 4 liquid ounces and weighed a number of pounds, she said. As a result of the incident, the school has discontinued the use of mercury in science experiments out of concern of a copycat incident disrupting classes, she said. Dan Van De Water, assistant superintendent, said insurance coverage will pay for $50,000 of the charge. The remainder will be paid through the school district's undesignated, unreserved fund. Van De Water said the school district initially made a $50,000 payment in good faith, and felt the additional $125,000 payment is was a fair settlement. The student who took the mercury was convicted of misdemeanor theft, ordered to perform 50 hours of community service, and confined to a detention facility for two days. The school district paid additional charges of approximately $62,000 in damage claims due to mercury contamination, including a $27,000 payment to Riviera Lanes, a bowling alley where students from an East High gym class played with the mercury. Claims totaling $9,500 were paid t6 64 students who came in contact with the mercury for the loss of their clothes and backpacks, which had to be destroyed. Eighty-eight students came into contact with the mercury and had to take showers at the school. Sweat suits were purchased and given to the students to wear home. The mercury poisoned none of the students, Patterson said. The out-of-court settlement is the last loose end to be tied up and should conclude all aspects of the matter," she said. Patterson said school administrators are relieved that the incident is nearing solution and can return their focus to curricular matters. She said the mercury theft was "like opening Pandora's box.".
STUDENT CHARGED IN MERCURY SCARE Detroit FREE PRESS By MARY OWEN FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER Date: Thursday, June 22, 2000 Page: 6B ZONE A 17-year-old Livonia student was charged Wednesday with larceny and two counts of assault for squirting mercury around a classroom. The 11th-grader was suspended shortly after the May 22 incident at Franklin High School. The Livonia Board of Education will determine whether he will be allowed to return to school in the fall. Police Lt. Ben McDermott said the student, who was charged as an adult? was a chemistry lab assistant who had stolen the two tubes of mercury, a toxic substance, He squirted a small amount onto a wall, into a film-developing tray and onto a table, where a small amount splashed another student's arm, McDermott said. The boy also squirted mercury at another student, who deflected it with another object. A teacher discovered 2 ounces of mercury-- about the size of a nickel -- on a table later that day. The felony larceny charge carries a 4-year maximum sentence, upon conviction; the assault charges are 90-day misdemeanors. A preliminary examination is set for June 29 in 16th District Court in Livonia. The student told police he did not intend to hurt anyone or to force closure of the school. "However, what he says and what he did are two different things," McDermott said. "His actions show some intent. After the incident, more than 1,500 students were sent borne for two days so the mercury could be cleaned up. The school district paid between $12,000 and $20,000 for the cleanup. The incident was the third mercury spill at a Detroit-area school since May. The incidents prompted a proposal in the state Legislature to ban the chemical from schools, nursing homes and hospitals by 2004. The measure is awaiting action by the House. Since the incident, the Livonia school district has asked the faculty to remove mercury and devices that contain 1St, such as thermometers. "We've asked the staff, but I can't say there isn't a thermometer somewhere in a home economics class", said David Watson, the district's director of operations. On May S at Miller Middle School in Detroit, students took mercury out of a science room and played with it throughout the school, contaminating a large part of the building. Classes were canceled for a week while crews cleaned up the substance. The district is working to rid all of its buildings of mercury. Also in early May, police were investigating why about a dozen students at Westland John Glenn High School were exposed to very small amounts of mercury while in school. Mercury, the silvery liquid found in glass thermometers, is a hazardous material. The amount in a thermometer is enough to contaminate a 1,500-square-foot area to 500 times the safe level. Exposure can occur from inhalation, ingestion and skin contact. Inhalation is the most dangerous because the highly toxic vapors can enter the bloodstream. Ingestion is not as serious because mercury can pass through the system in a short period of time.
Police seize mercury after child sickened By NELLIE KELLY World Staff Writer 1/27/01 Tulsa World, Tulsa, Oklahoma Dewey police have found the mercury that contaminated an apartment's carpet and left a child in critical condition at a Tulsa hospital. "It is safe and sealed," said Dewey City Manager Bruce Johnson. The original quantity was at least a pound, said Rita Engblom, on-scene coordinator for the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Johnson didn't say how much mercury police seized because they are still investigating and might find more, he said. "It does not look like there is any malice involved," Johnson said. A previous resident who lived in Swan Apartments No.441 probably took some of the poisonous metal home from work, played with it, spilled it and didn't tell anyone, Johnson said. The resident kept the mercury in a jar, Engblom said, "It's like someone being fascinated with a boa constrictor and keeping it for a pet," Johnson said. The contamination occurred between 1997, when new carpet was installed, and when the current residents5 Chris and Virginia Bailey and their children, moved in during September. The responsible party lived in the apartment directly before the Baileys, Engblom said. Ac cording to Oklahoma law, anyone possessing more than 1 pound of mercury must have "valid written evidence of his title to such mercury. The crime is a felony punishable by one to five years in prison, a fine not exceeding $500.00 or both. So much mercury was spilled that the Baileys' 23-month-old daughter is in critical condition at St. Francis Hospital. Her condition has not changed in the last day, said Dr. William Banner Jr. "The next six months are critical," Banner said. The girl's mother and father have tested positive for mercury, but their condition is not considered serious. The couple has a baby who was born in December. The toddler suffers from poisoning more than the other family members because she crawled on the contaminated carpet and breathed the fumes, Banner said. Next week, Engblom and her team will begin decontaminating the personal property inside the apartment. Swan Apartments will be responsible for hiring a company to decontaminate the structure, Engblom said. The carpet will be removed, and wallboard as high as three feet above the floor might be contaminated, Engblom said. EPA workers will enter the apartment wearing special plastic uniforms. They will test all the family's personal effects -- including televisions, furniture and clothing. Anything that shows contamination on the Jerome Mercury Vapor Analyzer either will be decontaminated with turbo heaters and venting or disposed Of Engblom said. Small items will be put in plastic bags and taken outside to a tent. Then a worker will poke a hole in each bag and test the air inside for mercury. Toys and food will be disposed of. Four other apartments tested negative for mercury contamination One of them, where the tenant had loaned a vacuum to the Baileys, tested negative, but the vacuum was "hot," Engblom said. The EPA instructed the tenant to leave the vacuum outside to be picked up by the EPA, said Donna Elvington, who takes care of the neighbor who owns the vacuum. She also works with the sick child's mother. "I'm relieved we finally found out what was wrong with Maya," Elvington said. "She's been sick since October 9th". The child's symptoms started with a rash, and quickly her family knew something was really, really going wrong with her," Elvington said. She was tested for a variety of illnesses, but no one discovered mercury poisoning until she went to St. Francis. "She's been misdiagnosed for months," Elvington said. |
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