Response to L.A. Mercury Spill Is Probed

LOS ANGELES -- A county supervisor asked for an investigation into why transit officials waited eight hours to alert authorities that a man spilled mercury onto a subway platform.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority acknowledged the lapsed response on Thursday, a day after a multiagency terrorism task force announced it was looking for a man seen in videotape crouching down and dropping something onto a platform at a downtown subway station Dec. 22.

The man used an MTA call box to report the small spill, then boarded a train.

"I am very concerned that it appears that basic protocols were not followed by the MTA and possibly other agencies involved in investigating and managing this incident," said Gloria Molina, a county supervisor and MTA chairwoman.

She asked for a joint investigation involving the MTA, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the Los Angeles Police Department, spokeswoman Roxane Marquez said Friday.

FBI officials said there was no evidence to suggest the actions were terrorist or criminal acts, although they want to ask the unidentified man why he was carrying mercury and why he spilled the toxic substance.

"From what I've seen, this appears to be an odd and goofy accident," said county sheriff's Cmdr. Dan Finkelstein, who runs law enforcement operations on MTA lines.

Officials believe the small amount of mercury spilled would be harmful only if someone touched it or drank it.

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