A reading of 1,000 nanograms of mercury per cubic meter of air brings out hazardous-waste emergency response.
Air in a pole barn in the 6100 block of Clarkston Road read 80,000 nanograms.
‘One of the things the people of this community should be proud of is the Hazmat,? said Supervisor Dave Wagner, who was on site at the cleanup, May 12. ‘It’s a team of many jurisdictions that’s involved in this and last night when they were called out and responded it was identified immediately and prevented any injuries.?
Independence Township Fire Department responded to a call that a pint of mercury was spilled during a court-ordered eviction.
‘They (the workers) unknowingly broke a vile of mercury and became contaminated,? said Gary Sharp, Independence Township firefighter. ‘Subsequently that contamination was transferred from their boots to their vehicles and some of the belongings in their vehicles, so we had them all return and with the assistance of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) monitored all their shoes, their vehicles, and EPA has temporary taken possession of the stuff that’s contaminated.?
James Justice, on-scene coordinator with the EPA, said they were screening 12 other homes of workers who became contaminated.
‘There are only three homeowners we could not get ahold of yet,? he said. ‘My understanding is the rest of the houses came back clean.?
Sharp, who gave an update on Monday, said an apartment of one of the contractors for the court had high levels of contamination in carpeting along with some of his belonging, which had to be thrown away.
Previous homeowner Gordan Lang received said he a call in Chicago from his neighbor on May 11, telling him workers were removing his belongings from the pole barn and throwning them in a trash bin.
‘There is a 100 years worth of antiques in that barn, I wanted to save them,? said Lang. ‘They have been through my family history and I want them.?
After driving six hours from Chicago, Lang said he arrived at his house around 5:30 p.m. and immediately climbed into bin to start salvaging his belongings, much of which was broken.
After entering the barn, he saw mercury on the floor and called 911.
Lang and his dog Midnight both had to be decontaminated, he said.
Lang, who missed a deadline by a few days to purchase his house back, said he filed for an extension but was denied by the court.
‘The court system is not on the poor people’s side anymore,? he said. “(They) have an obligation to serve and protect, not smash and destroy people’s property, especially when the man’s on the ground as far as he can go. Losing his home, losing his job, we’re living in an era we’ve never seen before. Where is our compassion??
Curt Thompson, team leader with the Oakland County Hazmat said they do many mercury responses.
‘Short contact or casual exposure is not harmful, there’s no acute sudden effect that you experience,” said Sharpe. ‘However, the liquid mercury that you see is actually releasing invisible vapors and if you breathe those in for long periods of time, it will cause some neurological impairment.?
Justice said they screen for contamination by wrapping furniture with plastic or, in the case of shoes and clothing, putting them in plastic garbage bags and letting them sit outside in the sun or near a heater until at least 70 degrees for 15 minutes.
‘If there are vapors on the clothes, the vapors will collect in the headspace of the bag and we’ll know right away with the Lumex mercury meter whether it’s contaminated,? he said. ‘And whether or not we can give it back to them or throw it out and dispose of it.?
Justice said a contractor from Detroit was coming to help clean up and screen the area for contamination. He said they will start outside first and eventually work their way inside the house and barn.
‘Not knowing where the contamination spread outside, what we’re going to do is take poli-sheeting plastic, lay it over the grass, which will cause a mini-green house effect,? Justice said. ‘It will heat up and any mercury that may be in the grass will vaporize and collect underneath the plastic.
“Then we’ll poke the Lumex underneath the plastic, and anywhere were it shows high levels of contamination, we’ll mark with paint and those areas will be scraped with a Bob Cat and those areas will be disposed of.?
On Monday, Sharpe said the EPA has completely removed all contaminated soil and property.
‘It will be sent to a lab before all the Dumpsters are sent to a solid disposal facility,? he said. ‘The contractor will be back sometime this week to put some grass seed down to replace some of the grass that was ripped up.?
Sharpe said they are encouraging people to exchange old thermometers with mercury in them for new ones. For more information on how to safely dispose of mercury, visit www.michigan.gov/mercury.