U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY POLLUTION/SITUATION REPORT Mercury - Hickman Mills High School - Removal Polrep Initial and Final Removal Polrep UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Region VII
Subject:	POLREP #1 First & Final POLREP Mercury - Hickman Mills High School Kansas City, MO Latitude: 38.9626820 Longitude: -94.5066160
To:
From:	Megan Schuette, OSC
Date:	5/4/2010
Reporting Period:	4/21/2010-4/26/2010
1. Introduction   1.1 Background     Site Number: A7V9    Contract Number: N/A D.O. Number: N/A    Action Memo Date:   Response Authority: CERCLA    Response Type: Emergency Response Lead: PRP    Incident Category: Removal Action NPL Status: Non NPL    Operable Unit: 00 Mobilization Date: 4/21/2010    Start Date: 4/21/2010 Demob Date: 4/26/2010    Completion Date: 4/26/2010 CERCLIS ID: MON000706142    RCRIS ID: N/A ERNS No.: N/A    State Notification: MDNR referred to EPA FPN#:    Reimbursable Account #: 1.1.1 Incident Category Emergency response, potentially responsible parties oversight. 1.1.2 Site Description A mercury release occurred from an 18 to 24 inch barometer inside a high school science class storage room. 1.1.2.1 Location Hickman Mills High School, 9010 Old Santa Fe Road, Kansas City, Missouri. 1.1.2.2 Description of Threat Mercury is a hazardous substance as defined by Section 101(14) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and is listed at 40 CFR § 302.4.  Screening confirmed that the levels of mercury in the air at the school were above levels of concern. 2. Current Activities   2.1 Operations Section     2.1.1 Narrative On Wednesday, April 21, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 Duty Officer received a call from the Kansas City Fire Department requesting assistance for a mercury spill at Hickman Mills High School.  The release was from an 18 to 24 inch barometer inside a storage room.  2.1.2 Response Actions to Date EPA responded to the scene late afternoon on April 21, 2010, to provide air monitoring assistance with the Lumex mercury vapor analyzer.  The school district hired Haz-Mat Response, Inc. to perform cleanup and disposal actions.  In consultation with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a cleanup level not to exceed 1,000 nanograms per cubic meter (ng/m3) was used. EPA found mercury levels exceeding 11,000 ng/m3 (all readings in the breathing zone unless otherwise designated) in the storage room where the spill occurred and 3,000 ng/m3 in the adjacent classrooms (Rooms 216 and 217).  The mercury readings were taken prior to the contractor's cleanup actions.  School officials made the decision to close the high school and neighboring elementary school the next day (April 22, 2010) and have students attend classes at alternate locations. EPA returned to the school on the morning of Thursday, April 22, 2010.  Haz-Mat Response, Inc. had completed cleanup actions.  Mercury readings were taken in the "worst case" scenario (Rooms 216 and 217 and storage room were closed up for 1-hour with no ventilation system).  Mercury levels exceeded 5,000 ng/m3 in the storage room; 1,200 ng/m3 in Room 217; and 300 ng/m3 in Room 216.  Hallway readings were all below 100 ng/m3.  Mercury readings were taken a couple hours later with the doors open and the ventilation system on.  The highest reading in the storage room was 1,800 ng/m3 at the floor (around 350 ng/m3 in the breathing zone).  The highest readings in Rooms 216 and 217 were 292 ng/m3 and 500 ng/m3, respectively.  Hallway readings were all below 200 ng/m3.  School officials were advised to seal the doors of the storage room during school hours on Friday, April 23, 2010, and ventilate the area over the weekend. EPA returned to the school on Monday, April 26, 2010.  Mercury readings were first taken with the ventilation system on.  The highest reading was in the storage room (650 ng/m3 in the breathing zone).  The ventilation system was then shut off and the rooms closed up.  The highest mercury vapor reading was in the storage room (807 ng/m3).  Both classrooms (Rooms 216 and 217) had mercury readings below 300 ng/m3.  2.1.3 Enforcement Activities, Identity of Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) 2.1.4 Progress Metrics Waste Stream Medium Quantity Manifest # Treatment Disposal mercury vapors  air <0.5 pounds  n/a  n/a  n/a                           2.2 Planning Section     2.2.1 Anticipated Activities Response complete. 2.2.1.1 Planned Response Activities Response complete. 2.2.1.2 Next Steps None. 2.2.2 Issues None.   2.3 Logistics Section     N/A.   2.4 Finance Section     No information available at this time.   2.5 Other Command Staff     2.5.1 Safety Officer Standard safety protocols (personal protective equipment) were observed during this response. 2.6 Liaison Officer N/A. 2.7 Information Officer 2.7.1 Public Information Officer EPA Office of Public Affairs was notified. 2.7.2 Community Involvement Coordinator N/A. 3. Participating Entities   3.1 Unified Command N/A. 3.2 Cooperating Agencies Kansas City Fire Department Missouri Department of Natural Resources 4. Personnel On Site   Megan Schuette, EPA On-Scene Coordinator Doug Ferguson, EPA On-Scene Coordinator Haz-Mat Response, Inc. (Hickman Mills' Response Contractor) Various school officials 5. Definition of Terms   No information available at this time. 6. Additional sources of information   No information available at this time. 7. Situational Reference Materials   No information available at this time.