On August 28, OSC Shane responded to a mercury spill at the Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton. On the previous day, a teacher had accidently mishandled an open ended barometer spilling mercury inside a classroom. As a precaution, the school closed 4 adjacent classrooms and a common area. The OSC and 3 START provided technical assistance to the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department and the Pleasanton Unified School District by conducting a survey of the rooms potentially exposed to elemental mercury and mercury vapors. EPA and START conducted real-time analytical monitoring using two EPA RA915 Lumex's to survey mercury levels in the classrooms, providing additional clearance measurements before and after the cleanup, and overseeing cleanup contractor operations. Initially, EPA cleared 4 classrooms and teaching resumed in those classrooms causing minimal disruption to the school. The environmmental consultant, Millennnium Consulting and their cleanup contractor, PARC Services Inc. completed the cleanup of the "hot" classroom and common area on August 30. EPA and START returned to the school and conducted clearance monitoring with the two EPA Lumex's. The mercury levels were reduced from a maximum of 50,000 ng/m3 in the breathing zone above the spill location in the classroom to 450 ng/m3. The cleanup goal was 1,000 ng/m3. A Mercury HEPA Vac and a sulfur-based compound was used to vacuum and wash all exposed surfaces. The School Principle, Bill Coupe, was very appreciative of the assistance provided by EPA to the school district.
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