On 27 June 2007, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) contacted the EPA Region 6 hotline to report a mercury release at a home in Chalmette Louisiana. The EPA subsequently notified the National Response Center (NRC 840234) of the release. The release was originally reported to the LDEQ by the Children’s Hospital of New Orleans, La. The residents’ youngest child became ill a few weeks ago and was being treated at the Children’s Hospital. After several examinations, the residents brought to the doctor’s attention that they recently had found mercury within their home. The child was then tested for mercury poisoning, and tests indicated that the child had mercury levels approximately 40 - 70 times that of normal levels.
On 28 June, START-3 conducted an assessment of the residence. Initial air monitoring conducted by START-3 indicated levels of mercury in air of up to 60 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3). Based upon the START-3’s report, EPA senior management was briefed on the situation. On the morning of 29 June, ERRS was verbally tasked to conduct a site walk that same day utilizing the OSC’s warrant authority for emergency actions.
July 21 and 22, 2007: work stopped. The house was vented over the weekend. There was no personnel on site.
July 23, 2007: work resumed. After the house was closed up for 1 hour, initial air monitoring revealed mercury vapor between 0.08 and 0.6 μg/m3; the 0.08 μg/m3 reading came from 1 of the 3 bedrooms that has showed low readings in the past. The crew was reduced by 2 members. Decontamination water was sampled for disposal; sample was delivered to the laboratory for analysis. One of the bathtub drains was treated with Mercongel. The drain will not be flushed until July 27th. The house was heated for 8 hrs at 80-85°F; then it will be vented for 2 hrs, and then closed up for 1 hr.
July 24, 2007: work resumed. The house was allowed to heat, vent, and then closed up for 1 hr. The initial air monitoring revealed mercury vapor between 0.1 and 0.4 μg/m3. A second coat of epoxy was added to the floors. The last of the contaminated personal items, i.e. important documents, pictures, home videos, and jewelry, were disposed of with approval from owner of residence. Pictures were taken of disposed documents.
The house will be vented until July 30th, 2007, at which time the house will put through another heating and venting cycle. After the house is closed for 1 hr, the indoor ambient air will be monitored. If mercury vapor levels stay below the 1 μg/m3 clean-up level, confirmatory sampling will be conducted shortly after.
Source of the mercury release has not been identified.
All members of the familiy except the daugther have elevated levels of mercury in their systems.
There is a heighten community concern most likely due to the mercury-contaminated residence being in the footprint of the Murphy Oil release. However, numerous analytical results of the materials from the Murphy Oil release indicated non-detects for mercury.
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