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What's PlayingBazaarsNov. 21
St. Stanislaus School benefit, 9 to 4 in Kolbe Hall, Adams. Bake sale, snack bar, games, Chinese auctions, money raffle, crafts, and pierogi.
Blackinton Union Church, 1373 Massachusetts Ave., North Adams; 10 to 2. Crafts table, bake sale, Chinese auction, the Christmas table, and kid's grab bag. Lunch $4, $2 kids.
First Congregational Church, North Adams, 9-2.
Nov. 28
Becket Federated Church, Route 8, holiday bazaar from 9-3. Lunch, crafts, baked goods, holiday and other items. Information: Mary Peltier, Parish House, 413-623-5217.
Dec. 5
Holiday Fair at First Congregational Church, 25 Park Place, Lee, from 10 to 3; handcrafted items, raffles, children's shop, bake sale, cut Christmas trees and lunch from 11 to 1. Includes angel-themed goods from SERRV. Information, 413-243-1033 or www.ucc-lee.org.
Dec. 12-13
North Adams Country Club, crafts 9-4; food from That's a Wrap from 11-2. Information: Sheryl Morehouse at 413-822-3329.
Planning a bazaar this season? Submit information to info@iberkshires.com to have it listed here. |
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Officials: Conte School Mercury Spill IntentionalStaff reports
iBerkshires
12:55PM / Tuesday, December 02, 2008
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A youngster's apparent scheme to get a day off from Conte Middle School with a dose of mercury has spilled into the community and may force the school to reopen elsewhere.
City officials said at a press conference on Tuesday that a Conte student was responsible for Monday's mercury spill that has closed the building for at least three days, if not more. A number of residences are now being tested for mercury vapor, about 20 children had their clothes tested for contamination and the city is considering declaring a limited state of emergency to qualify for state help.
"One student is responsible and he will be charged," said Public Safety Commissioner E. John Morocco, including for disruption of a school. He said it was not yet clear what the other charges would be.
Mayor John Barrett III said the problem has been compounded because the contamination has spread beyond the school.
"It's through the tracking — the clothes get contaminated, they go home and the house gets contaminated," he said. "It's a lot more than cleaning up the hallway."
The school was evacuated Monday morning shortly after the mercury was found and taken to 1st Congregational Church. The church was tested Tuesday morning and found to be cleared. However, mercury contamination was found on clothing returned to the school Monday night. That lead to the monitoring of a number of residences.
Mercury is an elemental metal that is a liquid at room temperature. It was commonly used in thermometers, barometers and other temperature valves until concerns over its toxicity phased many of uses out.
Long-term exposure to mercury vapors is a health hazard, said Michael Feeney, director of the state Department of Public Health's Inland Air Program. "It doesn't disappear it can stay for months, if not years."
It's important to clean up mercury as quickly as possible to reduce exposure. "This is more of a contamination issue than a health issue," said Feeney. "This is a very short-term exposure ... there have been no symptoms reported to us."
Parents were also offered urine testing for their children as a precaution on Tuesday afternoon; the screenings will be done at a state laboratory. The state Department of Environmental Protection has provided one of its high-end, sensitive meters for monitoring.
"It's serious in nature, it is a health risk and it has to be dealt with," said Barrett. "It keeps spreading out ... if someone is exposed to this for a long period of time it can be a health risk."
The school is undergoing a cleanup that includes a "wash" of a mercury-absorbing powder, according to Joseph Jammallo of Cushing Jammallo & Wheeler of Clinton, environmental consultants. Jammallo, a city native, said the wash is cleaned up after it dries and then the air is sampled for confirmation. Those samples, too, will be sent to laboratories.
Jammallo worked on the cleanup of the mercury spill that closed Pittsfield High School three years ago. That spill closed the high for most of December; students doubled up at Taconic High School.
Like Pittsfield, Conte's air levels will have to get below the 1 microgram per cubic meter standard before it can reopen. The health standard is used the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
Exposure symptoms include irritation of skin and eyes and respiratory problems. Mercury can damage the neurological system and internal organs.
Feeney said mercury spills are still common, mostly from old broken thermometers, although totally preventable. But in his 20 year career, this was the first that was, allegedly, intentional.
The student, whose identity was being withheld because he or she is a juvenile, was caught on security cameras; students who were nearby were being interviewed, said Morocco.
The spill was in a classroom and in the hallway, although officials declined to describe it as two separate spills. The amount in the hallway was about the size of a 50-cent piece, they said.
The student is believed to have brought the mercury to the school. School Superintendent James M. Montepare said the school system had disposed of its mercury some years ago, at least to the best of its knowledge.
Montepare said the time will need to be made up and that the school system "is looking at contingency plans to provide educational programs should this carry on."
That could include holding classes at other facilities although the mayor stressed those are only plans at this point. The school will be closed Wednesday and possibly the rest of the week, but officials were not ready to confirm that. "We're taking it one day at a time," said Montepare.
Barrett said the finacial impact will be offset by insurance, but after three mercury incidents in as many months, rates will be "sky high next year." He said the city would seem some type of relief from the state, which could include declaring a limited state of emergency.
"This is a very expensive experiment that this young individual got us into," said Barrett.
Top photo: North Adams Board of Health Officer Manuel Serrano, left; Michael Feeney, state Department of Public Health's Indoor Air Quality Program; Public Safety Commissioner E. John Morocco; Mayor John Barrett III; School Superintendent James Montepare, and Joseph Jammallo, principal of Cushing, Jammallo & Wheeler Inc. hazmat cleaners, at City Hall |
| okay, we made up the days already, yes the school did a poorr jobb, but i dontt thinkk morgann didd thatt on purposee. He wass tryinn to be funny , whatt mosstt boyys tryy to bee att thiss age. i dont think he even ment to get out for a day!, so stop blaming people for your little problems (: | | from: 7th gradder | on: 04-17-2009 |
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| stop complaining about having to make the days up at the end of the year. is a snow day your fault? no, but you still have to make those up. | | from: outsider | on: 12-05-2008 |
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I feel that the situation was taken care of poorley. I did not get a phone call or any sort of notification on if my child was in danger, what exactly was going on or anything, I just kept hearing rumors and we all know how rumors are. I have been told a number of things not knowing what is true. Yes, I am concerened about sending my child back into Conte, The building was falling apart before this incident, how are we going to know if our children are safe. Because the big wigs say so, they are not to good about informing the children and or the parent who would need to know. Why would I beleive anything they say, and would they send one of there loved ones into the bulding that just had a chemical spill? I feel that the parents and the students are left to wonder and thats just wrong.
Thats our elected official covering up and not sharing. | | from: Parent of Conte Student | on: 12-05-2008 |
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| i think the whole thing is just plane stupid. morgan shouldnt have dumped the mecury. he only wanted a day off well now hes got more then that. i think its being handled poorly. the school is just plain stupid. they shouldn't make us suffer by having us go longer in the summer. now no ones going to be his friend. they took away my clothes, my etnies came into my house and made me take a pee test. my mom used to play with the stuff. how is that bad. i hate what the school is doing. they always handle every problem poorly. evry teacher heard about the spil by students they did nothing about it. me and my friend had to go tell the office. it shouldn't be up to us kids. were not there to get hurt of investigste. were there to learn. i also agree with my friend. they should have let us use cell phones to call our parrents. my mom was worried that something happened to me. they would not tell my mom what happened. if they cant release that info then why did my aunt know. our parrents deserve to know. it was so sressfull on all of us. i hate that school and i always will. they should close it down for good. from a 7th grade stressed conte student | | from: samantha marie m 7th grade conte student | on: 12-04-2008 |
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| It's kind of interesting don't you think? All of this fuss being made about mercury. How can it really be that bad? We used to bust open thermometers in lab just to make balls out of the stuff and play with them.... | | from: Thermometer | on: 12-03-2008 |
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| What really fustrates me is that we have to make up the days at the end of the year. I know we can't just 'skip' them but I don't think the students should be punished. It wasn't our fault. I think the victim should suffer all the consequences. The rest of the students had no clue that this was going to happen and we shouldn't be punished for something that we didn't do. Thanks. | | from: 8th Grade Student continued... | on: 12-03-2008 |
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| i think that it was hadled like a circus to and was like a big joke and it was kinda handled uncontrolabley and the staff should of notified the parents. pce | | from: Kid | on: 12-03-2008 |
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| The thing that I was happy about was that we got evacuated quickly. Although no one knew what was going on, I was happy how quickly we got out of the school. I do think the situation was dealt with poorly. I know we're not supposed to use of cell phones in school but we should have been able to use them in the church to notify our parents about what was going on. I know you still don't know what's going to happen, but I would kind of like to know what's going to happen next week. Will we be able to return to Conte?..or do we have to go somewhere else? Also, my winter coat is in the school. I'm worried that it might be contaminated. I know my coat is on the 2nd floor and the spill was on the 1st, but I don't want my coat exposed to any chemicals from the mercury in the air. I'm also very scared that some other student is going to do it again because we got to get out of school. This was a very scary situation and I don't want it to happen again. Please keep us and the parents up date about what's going to happen next week or even Friday. Thanks, Conte Middle School 8th Grade Student | | from: 8th Grade Student | on: 12-03-2008 |
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| I think the school and the city has done a horrible job concerning notification and keeping the parents/children up to date on the progress of the clean-up and the plan for the near future. How about you let us know at least the simple things...our children's belongings that are still at Conte...will they ever be seen again? Are they contaminated? Do we need to go out and buy new winter jackets and back packs and electronics...and whatever else was in their backpacks? Children were sent to walk home with no coats on...contaminated children were shuffled along with non-contaminated children...I think the whole thing was handled like a circus! Still, we know nothing more than there was a spill and it was intentional. Absolutely disgusting the way the whole situation was handled, and is still being handled! I'm still wondering if my child may have been exposed, who knows and apparently nobody at the school cares!!! | | from: Concerned Parent | on: 12-03-2008 |
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| What the kid did was totally imature and should hava to pay the consequences. | | from: Person | on: 12-03-2008 |
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