Rocky River High School will be closed Thursday as an environmental contractor responds to a mercury spill in a chemistry classroom. The district said its other schools are expected to remain open, according to Cleveland.com and Cleveland 19 News.
What happened
The district told families that a vial holding an estimated 0.2 to 0.5 milliliters of mercury broke on a table at about 3:05 p.m. Wednesday, September 9. Officials said no students touched the substance and notified the family of a student who was nearby, according to WKYC and Cleveland 19 News.
Cleanup arrangements
The district sought guidance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and contacted EnviroServe, an environmental waste-cleaning firm, to handle the response. The contractor was expected at 7 a.m. Thursday, and the district said the school's HVAC system would need to be shut down during the work, disrupting normal operations, according to Cleveland.com and Cleveland 19 News.
Health and re-entry guidance
Guidance from the Kentucky Department for Public Health says mercury spills in public settings such as schools should have documented air readings of 1.0 microgram per cubic meter or less before affected areas reopen. Separately, Ohio's emergency-release notification rule applies to facilities that use or store hazardous chemicals and release an extremely hazardous substance, hazardous substance or oil at or above the applicable reportable quantity; the rule itself does not establish whether this spill met those conditions.
When students can return
The district had not announced when the affected classroom would be cleared for re-entry. Rocky River City Schools serves roughly 2,600 students across five schools, according to the district.
