State announces program to collect metallic mercury

Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2004 | 11:09 a.m.

The Nevada Department of Environmental Protection said Tuesday it will sponsor a new program to collect and safely dispose of metallic mercury that Nevadans have in their homes.

The decision to launch the program comes in the wake of recent mercury contaminations in a Clark County residence and at a Douglas County school, Environmental Protection Deputy Administrator Jolaine Johnson said.

"We do not want people to get alarmed over these incidents and start dumping whatever mercury they have down the sink or in their trash cans," she said, noting that the cost of the reclamation program will be based on how much mercury is reported in homes by the public.

"There are no laws that prohibit the possession of metallic mercury, but it is a very toxic substance and it is illegal to improperly release or dispose of it. It can cause serious health problems and environmental damage if not handled properly."

Johnson, who on Tuesday visited the site of the contaminated middle school in Gardnerville where 56 students were exposed to 4 ounces of mercury that one youngster brought to class, said the school is scheduled to reopen Tuesday.

In the other case, Mark Coleman, a 17-year-old Western High School sophomore, remains in stable condition today at Sunrise Hospital. He was admitted Saturday with acute mercury poisoning after about a month of daily exposure to the liquified metal that he found in his home and played with, officials said.

The Environmental Protection Agency is continuing its efforts to decontaminate his four-bedroom home in the 1400 block of Saylor Way near Jones Boulevard and Vegas Drive.

On Tuesday, the encouraging news was that EPA cleanup crews boxed up items from rooms that were not contaminated, including a number of aspiring artist Coleman's paintings and a large tapestry. Items were put in a tractor trailer for shipment to a storage facility until the house can be cleaned.

The discouraging news, said EPA spokesman Mark Merchant, was that contamination was found in the pool and in the sink -- "areas we did not expect to find contamination."

Merchant said the pool water, which has a low level of contamination, will have to be pumped into a tanker truck -- an expensive process that could push the cleanup operation cost for the home to greater than $500,000.

He said, however, that the mercury that went down the sink drain will not cause a major health problem because waste water treatment plants are designed to detect heavy water and automatically kick in chemicals to neutralize it.

"Because mercury is heavy, we recovered some of it from the sink trap," he said.

Johnson said that while incidents with mercury are not common, "these two incidents demonstrate a need for people to be aware of the importance of properly disposing mercury."

She said people have contacted the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection and other state and local agencies asking how to dispose of mercury.

Clark County Health District Environmental Health Manager Doug Joslin said currently the easiest way to properly dispose of mercury is to safely transport it to Republic Services household hazard waste collection center at 333 W. Gowan Road between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Also, the district has a general information line at (702) 383-1251.

"There have been discussions to explore further ways of dealing with mercury reclamation, but for now the immediate objective is to provide people with the easiest means to properly dispose of the material that is in their homes," Joslin said. "We urge people to use common sense in disposing of mercury."

If you have mercury at your home, state environmental protection officials recommend the following steps for temporary storage:

Coleman obtained a quart bottle of mercury from mining supplies left behind several months ago by his great uncle, gold miner Eddie Lattimer, when he moved out of the Saylor Way home he shared with Coleman and Lorraine Estes, Coleman's grandmother and guardian.

Coleman's motor skills have been affected and is blood pressure is high.

"I'm just having to do everything slow right now," Coleman told KLAS-TV, Channel 8.

Coleman said in an interview with the TV station that he did not know the substance he was playing with was mercury or that it was dangerous.

"When I found it, I had never seen silver liquid or paint like that before," he said. "I poured it out and thought it was cool, so I just started playing with it."

Coleman's grandmother Lorraine Estes, his guardian, turned down the Sun's request for an interview with Coleman, saying his blood pressure got too high during the television interview and she did not want his health further endangered.

No mercury testing is being done at Western High School because officials do not believe Coleman took the substance to school.

Officials will be visiting the high school to talk about the dangers of mercury to students.

The Clark County Health District is continuing to contact a dozen people, including 11 relatives who came into contact with Coleman and the mercury, which he poured into their hands so they could watch it bead up.

A number of them visited the family during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays from Southern California and may have inhaled vapors from particles embedded in the carpet as they slept on the floor, officials say.

One neighbor boy also came in contact with the mercury, officials said.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday continued to test the sealed home where 10 to 100 times the accepted levels of mercury were found. A member of Coleman's family is believed to have thrown the bottle of remaining mercury in the trash in late November, EPA officials have said.

So far, no one else has gotten sick from the mercury possessed by Coleman.