Winnemucca Junior High School Students, Staff Decontaminated After Mercury Spill

Courtesy: Kandi Quilici

From the Winnemucca Police Department: 

Winnemucca Junior High School students are in the process of being decontaminated after a student brought a salt shaker filled with mercury to school Thursday morning.

Emergency responders were initially dispatched on the report of a mercury spill. They subsequently learned the container of mercury was passed around among some of the students and may have been spilled in some locations.

Having consulted with HAZMAT experts, and facing the possibility the students may have carried the mercury on their hands and clothes throughout the school, the decision was made to decontaminate all the students. As part of that process, the shoes of all the students were collected and will be destroyed. 

The decontamination process was conducted by Humboldt General Hospital - EMS, who are responsible for HAZMAT responses in Humboldt County, along with the fire departments.

The student who brought the mercury to school and the 10-15 students who may have had contact with the mercury were transported to Humboldt General Hospital as a precaution. 

Emergency responders subsequently learned the container of mercury may also have been passed around on the bus with students from three other schools. Those schools (Lowry High School, Winnemucca Grammar School, and French Ford Middle School) were instructed to shelter-in-place until cleared. The schools were ultimately cleared and the students were allowed to go home. 

The decontamination process of the students from the Winnemucca Junior High School is underway.

Any repercussions for the student who brought the mercury to school were deferred until such a time as the safety of all the students was secured. 

The incident is being investigated by the Winnemucca Police Department, who was assisted at the scene by HGH EMS, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office, the Pershing County Sheriff's Office, and the Nevada Highway Patrol. 

Classes were cancelled county-side for Friday, Feb. 20. 

Humboldt County School District has contracted with a private company to have the school cleaned of the contamination. That process may begin as soon as tonight. 

From the Winnemucca Police DepartmentÂ