House likely will be razed

The mercury concentration was up to 65 times the acceptable level.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Cleaning up an uninsured house contaminated by a broken mercury vial to make it fit for human habitation may be prohibitively expensive, and the house may have to be demolished, the fire chief said Friday.
If the house is razed, a place would have to be found for proper disposal of the demolition debris, fire Chief Ken Nussle said.
If the city can't get cleanup assistance from the Ohio EPA or the federal government, "We're stuck with the house. What are we, as a city, going to do with this house?" Nussle asked.
Denise Lark of 339 Freeman St. N.W. called the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency at 3:30 p.m. Thursday to report that a vial of mercury had been broken in her residence earlier in the week.
That call brought Reginald Brown, Ohio EPA emergency response coordinator; the Trumbull County Hazmat team; Nussle and city firefighters; and Robert Pinti, deputy city health commissioner, to the two-story, single-family house.
About the readings
Entering the house in protective clothing, Brown measured 27-40 micrograms of mercury per cubic meter of air on the first floor and 60-65 on the second floor.
The acceptable reading is 1, and a reading of 10 is immediately dangerous to life and health, according to fire Lt. Paul F. Lamosek's report. The toxic, silver-colored heavy metal, which is found in thermometers and barometers, is liquid at room temperature. "The mercury readily gives off vapors," Nussle said.
Lark, 36, and her daughter, Sandra, 17, took showers and bathed their two dogs at the house and changed into Hazmat protective gear firefighters supplied them, and then into regular street clothes provided by the American Red Cross. They are staying with relatives.
The protective clothing they wore was placed in a sealed biohazard drum and stored at the central fire station after the Stericycle Inc. medical waste incinerator on Pine Avenue Southeast refused to accept it, Nussle said.
Lamosek's report said the vial broke while a son and daughter of Lark's, who had been detained since Monday at the Trumbull County Juvenile Justice Center, played with it. The vial had been left by their deceased grandmother. The EPA tested and found acceptable mercury readings at JJC, Lamosek said.
Problems
The size of the vial was not known by the fire chief, nor was the amount of mercury it contained. Fire Capt. Tom Walker said the house could not be ventilated by opening the windows because that would put contaminants into the air and expose rescue personnel to them.
Nussle said Brown told him the decontamination, which would include carpet removal and scrubbing of all walls, could cost $20,000 to $30,000. Nussle estimated the house's value at $35,000.
Nussle said he didn't know where materials removed from the house would be disposed of.
"Because of a little mercury, she's going to lose the house unless there are some contractors out there that could do that [remediation] reasonably priced," Nussle concluded.
milliken@vindy.com