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Mercury Spill in Lead, SD

 
Site Contact:
Megan Schuette
On Scene Coordinator

(Schuette.Megan@epa.gov)

Site Location:
Lead, SD 57754
 epaosc.org/LeadSDMercurySpill
NRC#: 1354952

Site Update

Safety Message:  EPA completed work to address mercury in a student’s residence on January 3, 2023. Levels of mercury throughout the Lead-Deadwood High School (High School) have been lowered below EPA and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry guidelines as of December 30, 2023.

EPA is offering to screen additional homes in Lead, SD for elemental mercury, at no cost to property owners. EPA is also offering free mercury disposal while the team is mobilized. To sign up for home screening, ask questions or dispose of mercury, please contact: 605-646-3160. These opportunities will no longer be available after 3pm on Wednesday, January 4, 2023.

 

Incident Overview:

A Lead-Deadwood School District Nurse contacted City of Lead Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) regarding a student who brought a bottle of mercury to the High School. The student had been playing with the mercury for three days and at least 16 students may have been in contact with the material. Lead VFD requested assistance from Rapid City Fire HazMat (HazMat) who responded to the residence of the student that brought the mercury to school. HazMat reported that an unknown amount of elemental mercury from three bottles had spilled in a bedroom. HazMat identified multiple beads of mercury ranging in size from "pinhead to dime.” The mercury came from the belongings of a relative of the student’s who worked at a mine.

 

The State of South Dakota requested assistance from EPA on December 13, 2022. On December 15, 2022, EPA's Response Team (Response Team) discovered detectable levels of mercury at the High School. The Response Team also monitored and determined that mercury levels at the student’s residence were hazardous to human health.

 

The Lead-Deadwood School District Nurse spoke with the parents of the other 16 students and extended EPA’s recommendation that they contact the On-Scene Coordinator and have their homes screened.  EPA has been contacted by twelve (12) property owners for additional screening. Twelve (12) homes have been screened to date. The School was cleared on December 30, 2023.


Screening for mercury vapor in the breathing zone in the back of the Art Room (near the teacher's desk). Screening for mercury vapor near the floor of the Art Room where mercury spilled under desks. Small beads of elemental mercury were observed on the floor throughout the student desks in the Art Room. Pea-sized beads of elemental mercury were observed under the desks in the Art Room. Smaller beads of elemental mercury can be seen directly in front of the desk leg. Screening for mercury vapor in the breathing zone of the Pottery Room attached to the Art Room. Cracking open the door to the Chemistry Laboratory to record an initial reading of mercury vapor in the breathing zone. Multiple pin-sized beads of elemental mercury were observed under the desks of the Chemistry Laboratory. Screening for mercury vapor in the breathing zone of the Chemical Storage Room, attached to the Chemistry Laboratory, where elemental mercury was spilled. Screening for mercury vapor in the Principal's Office, where a student was brought to after being observed handling the mercury. Response Team screened for mercury vapor near the floor of a bedroom where the mercury was spilled and recorded readings of 106,600 ng/m3. Screening the clothes near the location of a mercury spill with a Jerome mercury vapor analyzer. Winter conditions at the High School. Response Team freed homeowner's vehicle following historic blizzard conditions in the area. Screening a student locker for the presence of mercury. Using a flashlight to locate beads of elemental mercury in room 409. Pin-sized beads of elemental mercury on the floor of room 409, near the semi-circle desk in the back of the room. Locating and vacuuming beads of elemental mercury with a mercury specific vacuum in room 409. Testing the clothing of a student who was exposed to mercury at the High School during a screening of the student's home. Applying a mercury absorbing solution to clean the hallways of any contamination. Cleaning the hallways of non-hazardous Merc-X residue. Conducting 8-hr clearance monitoring run inside a classroom. Vacuuming beads of elemental mercury with a mercury specific vacuum in the hallway outside of a men's restroom. Small beads of elemental mercury were observed on a work bench in the Welding Workshop at the High School. Screening of work boots at the end of each day. Applying a mercury absorbing solution to clean the work bench in the Welding Shop of any contamination. Screening for mercury vapor in the Welding Shop after removing visible elemental mercury beads from a work bench area. Screening for mercury vapor in the school buses for the Lead-Deadwood Schools. Screening for mercury vapor in the breathing zone in a Pre-K Classroom at the Lead-Deadwood Middle School. Screening for mercury vapor in the breathing zone in a student restroom at Lead-Deadwood Middle School. Screening for mercury vapor in the breathing zone in the Lead-Deadwood Elementary School. Screening for mercury vapor in the breathing zone in the Lead-Deadwood Elementary School. Clearance sampling location in the Art Room at Lead-Deadwood High School. Clearance sampling location in a Room 409 (Math Room) at Lead-Deadwood High School. Screening for mercury levels in classrooms at the Lead-Deadwood High School. Clearance sampling location in the Welding Shop at Lead-Deadwood High School. Clearance sampling location in the Elevator at Lead-Deadwood High School. Response Team screened for mercury vapor throughout Lead-Deadwood High School and recorded readings of 275 ng/m3. Screening for mercury vapor in all closets and rooms throughout Lead-Deadwood High School. Response Team screens for mercury vapor throughout Lead-Deadwood High School and recorded readings of 378 ng/m3. Clearance sampling location in the third floor Men's Restroom at Lead-Deadwood High School. Applying heat to clean the cast iron drains and p-trap of a sink in a janitor closet of any contamination.
For additional information, visit the Notices section.