An environmental cleaning contractor will spend at least part of Thanksgiving break at LaFayette High School cleaning up after an Oct. 20 mercury spill, officials said.
Environmental Protection Agency officials investigated the spill, which stemmed from the theft of mercury from a school science lab, according to an EPA report released Nov. 18.
Traces of the material were found at the school and at a home on McLemore Street in LaFayette, reports state. At least one student was implicated in the theft, and several others are believed to have handled the material.
In all, five homes were screened by EPA officials, but only one house “exceeded residential limits” for mercury, the report states. Cleanup at the LaFayette home began immediately, the report states.
Walker County Schools spokeswoman Elaine Womack said in an e-mailed statement that less than 10 milliliters of mercury was stolen and all but 0.5 milliliter was recovered and accounted for.
Womack said the amount was less than what the EPA considers a “significant spill,” or more than two tablespoons in volume. The total volume of mercury on hand was about 2.5 teaspoons, “and not all of it was spilled,” she said.
“We are continuing a very thorough investigation and concentrating on the environmental cleanup,” Womack said. “This has been hindered by conflicting and misleading information from students.”
Officials said Nov. 14 that a student was taken to the hospital but no harmful effects were discovered.
According to a report filed by the EPA’s on-scene coordinator, the mercury passed among three or four students and was carried from school to their homes. School officials used zinc and sulfur compounds to address the spill, the report states.
However, officials discovered “mercury beads” in an unattached mobile classroom on Nov. 11 and reported the discovery to the EPA the next day, the report states.
EPA and Walker County school officials examined the bottoms of the shoes of about 115 students and about 95 staff members.
On Nov. 12 and 13, officials screened 19 rooms at the school and found three of them with mercury levels that “exceeded residential limits,” the report states.
School officials continue to isolate affected rooms and hired an environmental contractor to clean up at the school “beginning after Nov. 19 when the school will be vacated for nine days over Thanksgiving week,” the report states.
Superintendent Melissa Mathis personally was involved in the initial investigation at the high school, according to Womack.
MERCURY FACTS
The nervous system is very sensitive to all forms of mercury, but methylmercury and metallic mercury vapors are more harmful than other forms because more mercury in those forms reaches the brain. Exposure to high levels of mercury can permanently damage the brain, kidneys and developing fetus. Effects on brain functioning may result in irritability, shyness, tremors, changes in vision or hearing and memory problems. Short-term exposure to high levels of metallic mercury vapors may cause effects including lung damage, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, increases in blood pressure or heart rate, skin rashes and eye irritation.
Source: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
To see the EPAOSC reports, go to epaosc.org/LaFayetteHighSchoolMercury and epaosc.org/McLemoreStreetMercury.