School district officials plan to reopen Cardozo Senior High School for classes this morning after an extensive four-day cleanup removed all but trace amounts of mercury that was spread there Wednesday.
A 16-year-old Cardozo student who was arrested Saturday told police he obtained the mercury from the school laboratory, according to police sources who asked not to be named because the investigation is ongoing. A top D.C. schools official said yesterday that those allegations will spur the district to investigate how mercury could have been at Cardozo a year after hazardous materials were supposed to have been removed from city schools.
Environmental Protection Agency coordinator Charles Fitzsimmons speaks about mercury contamination at Cardozo Senior High School during a news conference that included Principal Reginald Ballard Jr., far right, and other officials.
(Preston Keres -- The Washington Post)
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_____D.C. Schools_____
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After similar mercury contamination in fall 2003 at Ballou Senior High School in Southeast Washington, the district hired contractors and a consultant to remove mercury and other hazardous chemicals from its labs and classes. Ballou was closed for a month for decontamination.
"If it was there, we'll find out where it was and find out who was responsible for securing it," Robert C. Rice, special assistant to D.C. school Superintendent Clifford B. Janey, said of the Cardozo case. "Now that they've said they got it inside the school, we'll do a full investigation."
Police charged the 16-year-old Cardozo student, who lives in the Park View neighborhood, with illegal dumping of a hazardous material. They said they interviewed but did not charge a second student, and they are seeking a third student seen on a school surveillance videotape that shows three male students working together to spread the mercury.
Police said they believe the Cardozo incident began as a prank. More than 600 students were evacuated Wednesday from the school, in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Northwest Washington, and the building was closed the rest of the week for decontamination.
The D.C. Department of Health ruled the building safe for students and staff members after cleanup teams worked round-the-clock to remove the hazardous heavy metal. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency contractors repeatedly vacuumed, wiped and tested four "hot" areas in the school's stairwells and hallways, officials said. Test results released yesterday afternoon confirmed that the previously dangerous levels of mercury vapor in the school had dropped far below the safe level of one microgram per cubic meter.
D.C. police Cmdr. Michael Anzallo said authorities are trying to determine the source of the mercury and are investigating the possibility that it was obtained from the school's science laboratory.
Cardozo Principal Reginald Ballard Jr. said he had "no idea" how mercury could have been in the building.
"That I know of, there are no hazardous materials in the building," he said. "We were told that all of the hazardous materials were removed by our consultant. . . . That process was not my process."
Ballard said students involved in the incident will be expelled or suspended -- "whichever is appropriate" -- and those expelled "will not return to Cardozo under any circumstances."
There was confusion Saturday night about the investigation's progress, with police reporting that they had arrested the 16-year-old and then saying they had also taken the 15-year-old into custody. Late that night, police said they were still trying to find the 15-year-old.
Yesterday, they confirmed that the 15-year-old had been questioned earlier Saturday evening but was not charged with any crime. He was questioned again yesterday, they said.
Charles Fitzsimmons, the EPA's on-site coordinator for the mid-Atlantic region, said an EPA-led cleanup team found only about two ounces of mercury, the amount found in five to 10 small thermometers. But even that amount left in a heated, confined space can generate vapors that could pose a health risk over time, Fitzsimmons said. On Wednesday, mercury vapor concentrations were measured at 50 to 70 micrograms per cubic meter, and seven people were found with detectable traces of mercury in their clothes, hands and shoes.
The final tests, taken Saturday and released yesterday, showed a reading of 0.007 micrograms. Mercury is a heavy metal that does not pose an acute health risk, but exposure at high levels over an extended period can cause neurological damage.
Illegal dumping of hazardous materials is a felony, and adults convicted of the crime face a punishment of as much as five years in prison plus fines. Penalties for juveniles are generally more lenient, and courts exercise broader discretion in imposing them.
Staff writer Theola S. Labbe
and researcher Don Pohlman contributed to this report.
