Evidently, previous lines they found had asbestos insulation on them. So, all of a sudden, there is this big drama as one of the supervisors is concerned that this line has asbestos insulation also and the operator of the excavator isn’t stopping his digging. The narrator actually said something to the effect of “…and spreading the toxic material all over the work area.” Turns out that it didn’t have the insulation after all.

But they treated asbestos as if it were nerve gas or smallpox, as if being exposed to asbestos fibers **outside** for mere **seconds** would instigate some biological massacre of the workers. Oh, the horror, the horror.

It’s really embarrassing when the Science Channel, the SCIENCE Channel, has scientific illiterates working for them. I doubt I’ll take anything they broadcast in the future seriously.

….so where can I buy this stuff in 55-gallon drums?

At school, other kids spilled more mercury. A concerned teacher called the local fire department, which started cleanup efforts. This consisting of capturing and containing the mercury.

Then some moron called the EPA…

They advised evacuation and sealing the windows and doors and turning up the heating system. (News reports indicate this was an effort to ascertain that the spill was cleaned up, but in fact it simply vaporized whatever remained, severely worsening the contamination by mobilizing the mercury.)

The school was down for weeks with furniture, personal items and the school bus itself condemned as hazardous waste. The final permissible level of mercury at the school was brought down to the level of exposure that one might have from a dental filling, with attendant cost.

There is no evidence that anyone has been harmed. However, lawsuits are expected and will likely go on for years.

Much later, I spoke to one of the fire department hazmat responders involved in the cleanup. I asked him about the procedure for decontaminating the site of a house fire where old mercury switch thermostats were present. He told me the procedure consists of shutting up and never calling the EPA.

Next time I get one of those corny singing Christmas cards containing a button battery (mercuric oxide) I’ll be sure to get HazMat to come out and handle it.

We still have one thermometer left at our house (a relic from the Ice Age, I think) that I zealously try to protect from breakage. Anybody know where to find mercury thermometers?

I think I’m going to go break a thermometer now.