Mercury spill discovered in Champion

Staff report

CHAMPION

The Trumbull County Sanitary Engineer’s Office says a small mercury spill was found at the Woodrow Avenue water tank, but the problem has not affected drinking water in the tank or for customers in the Champion and Bazetta areas.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Trumbull County HazMat team inspected the site Friday and determined that the mercury did not come in contact with the drinking water, said Rex Fee, executive director of the Trumbull County Sanitary Engineer’s Office.

A sanitary engineer’s employee conducting routine maintenance at the tank Thursday suspected mercury in a sump pit within the water-tank property, which is fenced. The EPA and HazMat confirmed the suspicion Friday. The mercury was detected in the pit and in the air near the pit, Fee said.

Fee said he doesn’t know where the mercury came from, but the tank was built in 1965, and a number of things manufactured in the 1960s that might be part of the tank contained mercury.

Arrangements have been made to abate the mercury next week, Fee said.

Water-quality samples are being taken, Fee said.