United States Environmental Protection Agency
Region IX
POLLUTION REPORT

Subject: 

On August 28, 2007, the OSC and 3 START responded to a request by the Danielle Stefani, HAZMAT Coordinator, Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department, to assist in the assessment and mitigation of a mercury spill at the Amador Valley High School at 1155 Santa Rita Road, Pleasanton, CA 94566. The previous day, a teacher had accidentally mishandled a wall-mounted open-ended barometer spilling about 1/2 teaspoon mercury onto the floor of the classroom.  The teacher had attempted to cleanup the mercury by scooping mercury beads into a plastic bag and then went home.  The teacher notified the Fire Department of the spill.  The Fire Department advised the teacher to bag her clothing and bring it to the school.  The teacher went to the hospital, but was told the exposure was too low to warrant blood work. The school closed and secured the "hot" classroom, 4 adjacent classrooms and a common work area.    

The Pleasanton Unified School District conducted a voluntary cleanup and hired an environmental consultant, Millennium Consulting Associates, to coordinate the mercury cleanup operations. They subcontracted PARC Services, Inc to conduct the cleanup.  Upon arrival, EPA was informed that neither Millennium nor PARC had a Lumex to perform real-time analytical measurements of mercury vapor concentrations. EPA and START conducted an initial survey of the classrooms using two Lumex's. The maximum mercury levels in the "hot" classroom and common area were 50,000 ng/m3 and 17,000 ng/m3. The cleanup action level was 1,000 ng/m3. EPA cleared the 4 adjacent classrooms which resulted in minimal disruption to the school on opening day.  Additionally, the teacher's green mustang was surveyed and found to be non-impacted by mercury cross-contamination.

PARC Services completed the cleanup operations on August 30. PARC used a combination of washing the surfaces with a mercury spill control product (MercX) and vacuuming with a Mercury HEPA Vac.  Porous materials such as books and manuals were bagged for disposal.  EPA and START returned to the school and performed clearance monitoring with the two Lumex's.  The cleanup was successful and mercury vapor levels in the "hot" classroom were reduced from 50,000 ng/m3 to 300 ng/m3.

EPA provided technical assistance to the local Fire Department and the Unified School District and was able to expedite the cleanup operation minimizing disruption to the school on the first week back from summer vacation.  The school principle, Bill Coupe, appreciated the effort.  The estimated cleanup cost was between $15K and $20K for a spill amount estimated to be 1/2 tsp.

EPA 9 should consider sponsoring a pilot project similar to the Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School pilot project in Massachusetts in 2001-2002 where the State DEP and the Northwest Waste Management Official's Association (NEWMOA) supported schools interested in removing mercury from school buildings and in educating the public and public officials on the potential hazards of mercury and the costs associated with cleaning up an accidental spill.