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Stormwater staff remove small mercury spill from Greenwood residential street; contractor recycled material
Summary
Staff collected about three ounces of mercury from a roadway area, packaged it and delivered it to a local recycling firm; the cost reported in the meeting was $12 plus staff time.
Stormwater staff reported finding small beads of mercury on a residential street; they collected the material using PPE and eyedroppers, packaged it and took it to a local recycler.
Staff said the material appeared as many tiny liquid metal balls confined to a limited area and that vehicles had tracked some of the beads. Using droppers and protective equipment, staff said they retrieved about a pound‑volume (described in meeting remarks as several ounces by weight) and delivered the material to Lighting Resources, a local firm staff identified as a mercury recycler. Staff stated the direct recycling cost to the city was $12; they noted the larger cost would have been incurred if HazMat or national response procedures had been triggered.
Meeting remarks included some inconsistent phrasing about reportability: one staff comment said the amount was not reportable, while another said staff would have needed to notify their incident management division and the national response center if the volume had reached reportable thresholds. The board recorded no motion on the item; staff presented it as an informational field report.
Staff discussed collection methods and disposal logistics and said the incident was handled quickly to limit spread into drains.
