On August 13, 2007, a representative from Country Home Health Inc. contacted the Mcalester Fire Department to report seeing mercury in the home of an elderly patient in Mcalester, Oklahoma. The Fire Chief contacted the National Response Center (#845467) to make a formal report after visiting the residence and observing free mercury on the floor inside the house.
On August 20, 2007, the EPA responded to the site to initiate the cleanup. The EPA responded with an EPA OSC, 6 ERRS Contractors, and 2 START Contractors.
On August 14,2007, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mobilized to investigate the reported release of mercury in the residence. The EPA verified this release and found that the levels were significantly above health based cleanup standards of 1 ug/m3. The results were as high as 80 ug/m3.
The EPA plans are to remove the mercury from the home in an attempt to achieve a less than or equal to 1 ug/m3 air level.
The initial focus is one bedroom and everything in the bedroom will be removed.
The response action will continue until the cleanup standard is met.
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