By Greg Grisolano
ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com
PITTSBURG, Kan. — Up to 12 pounds of mercury may have been released last week at a Pittsburg skate park, officials said Tuesday.
Pittsburg police Maj. Brent Narges said the skate park reopened Monday.
Narges said police sent documents to the Crawford County prosecutor alleging that three juveniles were responsible for the theft and release of the mercury, but that the suspects would not be taken into custody.
“We are not at this point going to make any physical arrest,” he said. “It will be up to the county attorney to determine any sort of charges.”
The three juveniles allegedly broke into a railroad warehouse and took some of the toxic metallic chemical, authorities said.
Mike Heideman, spokesman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said the mercury apparently came from seven arc resonators that are used to convert AC electrical current into DC current for welding. Each device contained about 2.54 pounds of mercury.
About 5 pounds of liquid mercury later were removed from the warehouse by authorities.
Heideman said the remaining 12 pounds were recovered and taken away in four 55-gallon drums containing contaminated dirt from the skate park, as well as in three 55-gallon drums containing dirt, dust and filter bags from the warehouse. An additional 13 boxes containing contaminated plates and sheeting, and clothing from people who were screened also will be disposed.
“At present, the materials are at a secure location,” Heideman said. “They will be taken to a hazardous-waste landfill.”
Authorities tested more than 40 homes, area schools and even a school bus, but they found no unsafe levels of mercury contamination, according to Janis Goedeke, director of the Crawford County Health Department.
More than 150 people were screened and 87 were tested for the effects of mercury poisoning, but all the tests were negative, Goedeke said Tuesday.
“No free mercury was found in any home, school or business, outside of the railroad facility or the park,” Heideman said.
Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency were called in Sept. 30 after local police and firefighters shut down the skate park at Schlanger Park after learning about the incident.
An official with the EPA’s regional office in Kansas City said the amount of mercury released in the Pittsburg spill is “unusual.”
“It’s not every day that you encounter a spill of that magnitude,” Chris Whitley said. “The vast majority of these incidents involve somebody breaking an old thermometer or one of the new (compact fluorescent) light bulbs. They are still serious, but they are a comparatively smaller amount that what we’re talking about in Pittsburg.”
Warehouse
Pittsburg police said they believe the three juveniles obtained the mercury from a barrel in an abandoned warehouse owned by Kansas City Southern Railway Co. The company issued a statement last week saying it had not kept mercury in the building, and that its inspections of the structure had not turned up any of the toxic metallic chemical.
A spokesman for the railroad could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Local News
Report on juveniles suspected in mercury case given to prosecutor
- Local News
-
-
City wants to buy weather radios for those without
Phil Jones had been working on a construction project outside his house all day on May 22 and was unaware that a tornado watch had been issued. Once he was inside, though, his weather radio went off, and he learned that a warning had been issued.
-
Architects present preliminary JHS plans at community meeting
Reaction appeared mostly supportive Thursday night among the roughly 50 people who attended a community meeting at which architects presented their preliminary site plans for the future combined Joplin High School and Franklin Technology Center.
-
Confessed shooter testifies against co-defendants in Pittsburg murder case
Rickey Smith testified Thursday that as he came in the back door of Ryan Bailey’s home in Pittsburg with a 9 mm pistol in his hand, Bailey looked up from the couch in his living room.
-
School district’s proposed street-closing plan questioned
Plans to close some streets near the proposed Joplin High School drew questions, including a challenge from a former Joplin mayor, during a public hearing this week.
-
Neosho council approves new golf cart contract
The purchase of golf carts was back on the agenda this week for the Neosho City Council. City Attorney Steve Hays said there were errors in the financing terms that were part of a bid approved last month for the purchase of 55 gas-powered carts from E-Z-Go for $144,195, so the purchase of a new fleet was rebid.
-
Mike Pound: Spirit of competition evident during double-overtime game
When I played basketball in high school, I played in several very close games.
Now, some people who may have known me in high school are probably laughing right now and saying, “What Mike meant to say is that when he was in high school, he came very close to playing in some games.” -
Mo. optometrist filed $40 million refund claim
A southwest Missouri optometrist who filed a tax return claiming a $40 million refund has been sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison.
-
Okla. receives waiver from No Child Left Behind
Oklahoma’s top education official reacted with glee Thursday with the announcement that the state is one of 10 states being granted a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law that requires students be proficient in reading and math by 2014 — but focused on getting students to “just pass the tests.”
-
Kan. House approves bipartisan redistricting bill
Power in the Kansas House is likely to shift next year from rural parts of the state to the Kansas City area after members overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan bill Thursday for redrawing their districts.
-
Fugitive in 1993 British heist arrested in Ozark
A man suspected of stealing about $1.5 million from a security van in England in 1993 has been arrested in southwest Missouri.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Expert: Removing LA School's Staff 'Appropriate'
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
$25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses
Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
