On January 17, 2008, at approximately 12:15 pm, a student of Mid-Rivers Elementary School in St. Peters, Missouri, broke a mercury thermometer in a second floor hallway of the school building. The student had brought the thermometer from home. The thermometer was part of his science project.
The school custodian initially attempted to clean the spill with a broom and dust pan. A local HAZMAT team responded and reported no visible beads of mercury present at the scene of the spill. An assessment was performed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in coordination with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) responded to the scene the evening of January 17 to perform a clean-up assessment. During the EPA/MDNR clean-up assessment, visible beads were observed on the tile floor.
