School gives update on mercury finding

AURORA -- Officials in the Indian Prairie School District are continuing to monitor the gymnasium and field house at Waubonsie Valley High School, more than four months after mercury was discovered in the floor.

Jay Strang, director of building operations, gave School Board members an update on the situation this week.

"We have been monitoring it and making sure there is enough fresh air in both spaces," Strang said.

On Oct. 3, a student brought to the school an old mercury switch found in a dumpster. The student showed it to friends and then it broke, exposing the mercury, Strang said.

"The amount of mercury was less than a thimble," Strang said. "The students were isolated and the classroom was buttoned down."

The district called in an environmental engineering firm to test every room and piece of furniture in the school.

Upon measuring levels in the school, low readings of mercury were found in both the main gymnasium and the field house. Those readings, however, were not connected to the mercury spill, Strang said.

"We discovered the problem was that the floor, which was put down in the early 1970s, likely had some mercury in it," Strang said.

"We have been able to manage it by keeping it ventilated and the temperature below 70 degrees as much as possible."

Trace amounts of mercury were found where the students had been throughout the day, but it was not a danger to anyone, he said.

Strang said even the highest readings in the gym and field house are not dangerous to students or staff. The material containing the substance is underneath the floor so students don't have direct contact with it, he said.

The district has several options for the gym and fieldhouse, all of which are costly.

"We could encapsulate it, which would cost about $60,000," Strang said. "We could pour a new one-quarter-inch floor over the top, which would cost $100,000, but we are still concerned the mercury could vent up through the ends.

"At this point in time I am not sure we need to do anything except monitor the situation."

bcarson@scn1.com