On
October 1, 2026, an estimated three cups of elemental mercury was
spilled in a municipal utility vault belonging to the Town of Cottage Grove in Oregon while facility staff were preparing to replace a drinking water main
distribution line from the water system's storage reservoir. The incident occurred
inside a subsurface vault, releasing mercury from a defunct
flowmeter mounted on the wall since the 1940s or 1950s. Three utility employees were in the
vault when the release occurred and evacuated. The vault floor drains to a
stormwater conveyance that outfalls at a nearby surface water body. Facility staff notified the appropriate agencies, including the Oregon
Emergency Response System (OERS).
A
Lane County Hazmat team arrived to assess conditions but did not have mercury screening equipment and could not handle the volume of mercury
spilled. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) filed a report
with the National Response Center (NRC). EPA coordinated with ODEQ, Lane
County Hazmat and the city of Cottage Grove, advising on next steps to assess
the extent of the release, contain uncontrolled mercury and cleanup impacted
areas. In a joint call with EPA and ODEQ, the City of Cottage Grove requested
EPA assistance to address the release. EPA's actions have focused on removing elemental mercury from both the vault and the storm drain, isolating the storm drain from the environment, assessing the spread of mercury into the environment, and coordinating with State and Federal regulatory partners.
