Local News
Hazmat called to clean up spill at middle school
By Ken Munson
Nov 6, 2007, 08:38

The Hopewell fire department was called to Carter G. Woodson Middle School after mercury, which is classified as a hazardous material, was spilled in a classroom on Friday.
The spill happened when a Carter G. Woodson student accidentally broke a mercury thermometer, necessitating the appearance of a hazmat team to deal with the spill. Mercury is a metal which is liquid at room temperature and can cause mercury poisoning if its vapors are inhaled.
Mercury thermometers are no longer allowed in classrooms, and superintendent Winston Odom was not able to account for how this particular thermometer slipped through the cracks.
"We thought we had removed all [mercury] thermometers a while ago," said Odom.
However, the superintendent says school officials have checked and confirmed that no other mercury thermometers are in the middle school, and that they are also checking that none are present at any of the other schools in Hopewell.
"All the necessary precautions were taken, including removing and double-checking that mercury thermometers had been removed not just from this school but from all schools," said Odom.
Hopewell school board officials report that the boy in the incident was not hurt or poisoned and that no danger exists to anyone else who may have been in the area.

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