On January 13, 2021 the Worland Fire Department contacted EPA and requested assistance with a mercury spill inside a residential garage in Powell, Wyoming. A resident and his dog Stitch were moving a container with an estimated 1 - 1.5 cups of mercury when the container broke and some of the mercury was spilled. The garage was quickly secured, but mercury may have been tracked inside a truck and into a nearby small home.
On January 14, 2021, EPA deployed an On-Scene Coordinator (OSC) and Response Team to Powell, Wyoming. After conducting a screening level assessment with a mercury vapor analyzer, the Team collected elemental mercury, removed contaminated personal items and household materials such as thresholds, shelves, flooring and trim. Both properties and the truck were aggressively heated and vented and the concrete in the garage was sealed.
8-hour clearance monitoring was achieved on both properties on January 18-19, 2021 and all debris and hazardous substances gathered during the response effort were shipped off-site by February 8, 2021.
