ARMSTRONG, Iowa (KTIV) -
Crews from the Environmental Protection Agency are in Armstrong, Iowa to clean-up after a mercury spill that's contaminated a home and a business, and, exposed more than 12 people to the toxic chemical, including three children.
No one knows why or how it got there, but Armstrong Police say a glass container holding 15 ounces mercury, weighing about 40 lbs, was sitting in the basement of a 2nd Avenue home for years.
"I've talked to several people; it sounds like it's been in the house for quite some time. Ten years or better," said Armstrong Police Chief Craig Merrill.
Merrill says, Friday, a painter getting the house ready for some renters, found the mercury and brought it to a local bar, Dale's Recreation. As the poisonous liquid metal was passed around, it was dropped, spilling.
The bar's owner tried to clean it with a vacuum and mop. Bad idea says Emmet County Emergency Manager Terry Reekers.
"It just made it worse," he said.
Reekers says a toxic mess on the floor, became an airborne hazard-- exposing the bar and patrons.
"With the shop vac, it takes air in, and shoots air out. It's quite a volume of air, so anything inside goes to dust particles-- goes right out into the atmosphere," said Reekers.
The painter recaptured some of the spilled mercury, putting it in a plastic bottle, then brought it back to the house.
Police say owners of the home had plans to get rid of the chemical, but it was found again by their renters, who were moving in Sunday. Three of that family's young kids got a hold of the material, pouring some of it into a sandbox out back.
"That point the children's parents called, I think, the hospital and poison control. They advised them if they didn't ingest any, or show any symptoms of ingestion, they should be okay," said Chief Merrill.
We're told the children are fine, but under observation for signs of mercury poisoning. So are the more than ten others exposed at the bar, Friday night.
For the time being, both the bar and home have been quarantined. The EPA has dispatched a crew to evaluate and clean the sites. They'll be in town late Tuesday.
Police are still investigating the spills. Chief Merrill doesn't know if charges will be filed.
