[h=1]Mercury spill cleanup may continue Friday[/h]
Trace Christenson, Battle Creek Enquirer 4:53 p.m. EDT September 24, 2015
Battle Creek firefighter Jim Mervyn cleans the back foot of Roxy as owner Nicholas Lowe holds her.(Photo: Trace Christenson/The Enquirer)
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The cleanup may continue Friday after a mercury spill at a Battle Creek house.
Battle Creek firefighters contained the estimated 16 ounces of mercury, which had been in a glass bottle that shattered and spilled the toxic liquid metal on the back steps of a house at 73 S. Union St.
The spill was reported about 10:30 a.m. Thursday, according to Battle Creek Fire Department Batallion Chief Mike Fleisher.
Nicholas Lowe, 33, said he had been living in the house with his son, 12, and daughter, 13, but were moving out because of foreclosure. The house was scheduled to be sold at auction on Thursday.
Lowe said he came to the house Thursday morning to retrieve some items and found that the jar of mercury had been broken on the wood steps on the back porch. He called 911.
“It was a bottle of mercury that my grandfather had,” Lowe said. “I had seen it on the porch and it was the same mercury I played with when I was 10 years old. I knew what it was.”
Other family members said the mercury had been collected at an auto plant were the grandfather worked years ago.
Fleisher said emergency personnel don’t know how the mercury was spilled. Lowe said other family members had been in the house in recent days and Battle Creek police have questioned them.
After Lowe called for help, emergency personnel from the fire department including firefighters trained to handle hazardous materials responded, Fleisher said.
Three firefighters put on protective suits and breathing tanks and went to the area of the spill.
“They went to contain the product,” Fleisher said, “and they contained it to one small area.”
He said the mercury was on the steps and appeared to be all outside the home.
The firefighters spend nearly 30 minutes scraping the mercury into containers near the back of the house.
Workers from Young’s Environmental in Grand Rapids arrived in the early afternoon. Fire officials said the company would collect the containers of mercury and remove soil around the back of the house and the wooden steps contaminated with the mercury.
They were expected to work until sunset Thursday and possibly return Friday.
The workers also tested Lowe and his dog, Roxy, for any contamination as well as Lowe’s children, who were attending classes at Pennfield Middle School.
Neither Lowe nor the children showed any signs of mercury but the dog had higher-than-normal levels on a back paw. She had her paw cleaned by a firefighter.
Mercury can pose health problems when vapors are inhaled, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and high exposure can cause kidney problems, respiratory failure and death.
“It is very toxic when inhaled,” Fleisher said. “It can make you very sick.”
The fire department was assisted at the scene by Battle Creek police and Lifecare Ambulance. Union Street was closed for several hours between Capital Avenue Northeast and Cherry Street.
Contact Trace Christenson at 966-0685 or tchrist@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter: @TSChristenson
