EPA called to investigate Livermore mercury spill

Contra Costa Times ^ | 12/29/5 | Danielle Samaniego

[SmithL]

LIVERMORE - Fire and police are trying to find out how mercury ended up in the gutters of one neighborhood as they await word from the Environmental Protection Agency before cleaning it up.

Someone reported metallic-like beads in the gutter in front of the 900 block of Olivina Avenue around 3 p.m. Fire and police arrived on the scene and found the toxic substance on both sides of the street, said Glen Haendel, division chief with the Livermore Fire Department.

Firefighters were able to contain the spill and the EPA has been called, Haendel said. After the EPA's report, clean-up crews are expected to be called out, though Haendel said he did not know when that would be done.

Authorities do not know how the mercury got there or how long it has been in the area. The intersection of Olivina and Bernal avenues was cordoned off and a shelter-in-place warning was in effect for residents Wednesday evening, Haendel said.

[SmithL]

Quoth the Raven,

Livermore.

[Ninian Dryhope]

Used to play with mercury when I was kid. My mom brought it home to us kids from the dentist office where she worked. Now, a little mercury spill is treated as if it were a major catastrophe.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

"The intersection of Olivina and Bernal avenues was cordoned off and a shelter-in-place warning was in effect for residents Wednesday evening, Haendel said.

What a collosal waste of money and resources. And, to issue a "shelter-in-place" for this is patently ridiculous.

[MineralMan]

"The intersection of Olivina and Bernal avenues was cordoned off and a shelter-in-place warning was in effect for residents Wednesday evening, Haendel said."

OMG! We're all doomed! Shelter-in-place? What are they thinking. While mercury vapor is a problem, liquid mercury at normal room temperature is hardly worth bothering with. Feh!

[garyhope]

So did most kids (our age, ancient). I'm still alive and have amalgam fillings in some of my teeth too.

It's the age of over emotional hysteria over a lot of nothings. It's the age of "feelings" being more important than pragmatism or empiricism.

It's the age of sissy chickens.

[SpinyNorman]

I had a night diving class on a Plymouth, MA beach a few years ago. We used non-toxic chemical glow sticks to locate/identify each other under water. Naturally, a few come off.

Next day, the Plymouth paper was headlining "Medical waste found washed up on local beach"

[garyhope]

Pardon my asking, but what's a "shelter-in-place"? And how much does it cost?

Does it come with furniture, appliances, curtains, a TV, internet access? A little white picket fence? Food stamps? A VISA debit card? Do I have a choice of colors?

[Ninian Dryhope]

Living on a farm, I also siphoned lots of leaded gasoline complete with lots of benzene from our truck for use in our tractor, getting more than a few mouthfuls of gas in the process. Lived in many houses with lead paint, and played outside along roads where cars burned leaded gas, and never had a bit of trouble learning anything taught in school.

PCBs are another example of media and environmentalist over reaction and hysteria.

[newcthem]

That's the truth....we used to mess around with it in chemistry class. Now it is a national emergency, but it does keep our government workers and news media employed.

[Old Professer]

My uncle once had a quart jar of mercury on his garage shelf, he told me to use both hands to pick it up as it weighed over 25 pounds.

[MineralMan]

"My uncle once had a quart jar of mercury on his garage shelf, he told me to use both hands to pick it up as it weighed over 25 pounds."

Yup. It's heavy. I keep mine in a metal container.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Bro! You be funny!

It is a "stay in your house" order from the local EMA.