Mercury Spill Decontamination at Grafton Street School

One of the things I have been really excited to share with folks via this blog are some of the things I see and experience in my capacity as a Red Cross disaster services volunteer. It's something that I'm really proud to do and that I really enjoy doing, and it also makes for some unique explorations and photos. I'm excited to have my first opportunity to do that in this post.

As many of you know, there has been a fairly major mercury contamination at the Grafton Street Elementary School. A student brought approximately one pint of mercury to school on Thursday, and there was some period of time in which the school and other students were exposed to the mercury before the gravity of the situation was discovered. I assisted with the support operation on Saturday. One thing that the Red Cross is very good at is mobile feeding, so we set up in order to keep the various agents fed and hydrated.

Here are some of the things I saw.


These are items which were identified as being contaminated. They were removed and taken away in a sealed container shortly after I took this photo.



This is the EPA's Mobile Command Center.



This is the Red Cross of Central MA's Mobile Feeding Unit, which I was working from.



There were a number of city, state, and federal agencies working together.



Here's a MA DEP emergency response vehicle. Stacked to the right of it are the detection machines that were being used to "sniff" houses and personal effects for mercury.



Our spread: Coffee, tea, water, Gatorade, sandwiches, fruits, veggies, chips, and other snacks. Keep 'em fed, keep 'em working...



The teams were being deployed to check the houses of students from the school. Here is just one of the teams, checking the exterior of a home on Grafton Street.



Another shot of the EPA Mobile Command Center.



More federal agencies on the job, the Coast Guard and Health and Human Services I believe...?




When I see things like this, I see tax dollars being used well. About a year ago, I did a search and rescue operation in Townsend, MA. Various local police and fire departments, and the MA State Police were involved. There were probably 100+ people on the ground, search dogs, and a helicopter. To me, it was really heartening to know that if trouble befalls me deep in the woods someday, a lot of people are going to come looking for me. That's part of what defines a civilized society.

As a wrapup, I think the whole situation is being handled with an abundance of caution and an amazing level of professionalism. Mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin, and it's particularly risky when children are involved. It's good to see so many agencies working to assess and minimalize the exposure, especially in such an urban area.

The T&G had a reader's poll the other day, in which 62% of people thought that the response to this mercury contamination was an "overreaction". I'd love to know how many people in that 62% would volunteer to have mercury sloshed around in their homes...