Mercury cleanup resumes; investigators follow leads

As workers clean up liquid mercury from an Airport Road apartment complex, Carson City Sheriff's detectives continue to investigate how the potent neurotoxin ended up there in the first place.

Maintenance crews at the Bella Lago Village apartments, formerly known as Woodside Terrace, came upon a large amount of the silver substance when they removed the carpet and padding Tuesday from the hallway of apartment 114, six days after the previous tenant was evicted.

According to Dustin Boothe of Carson City Health and Human Services, the total amount gathered Wednesday was estimated between three and five pounds. He said one gallon of mercury weighs 113 pounds, which would make Tuesday's discovery about half a cup.

Still, said Boothe, the find is the largest the city's dealt with in recent history.

"This is not like at the schools. This was not a thermometer that was broken or a blood pressure cuff. There is a lot more mercury here," he said.

The discovery, and subsequent testing that registered toxic levels of mercury vapor in the air, prompted city health officials to order the evacuation of the 22 tenants in the surrounding 19 apartments at about 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Carson City Sheriff's Chief Deputy Ray Saylo said because everything within reach of the fumes would be contaminated, tenants were asked to take with them only the clothing on their backs.

The property owner, listed in the Carson City Assessor's log as Bella Lago with the point of contact as Ben Farahi in Reno, arranged for the tenants to stay in area hotels, said Saylo.

Calls to the complex office went unanswered Wednesday. Farahi declined comment when reached at his Reno office.

Detective Capt. Ken Sandage said the recently evicted tenant was interviewed and denied knowing about the mercury. She and her children lived in the apartment just three months, he said.

Now, investigators are trying to locate other former tenants.

"We're trying to establish who rented it within the years, and then we can gravitate beyond that," he said.

Sandage said the most pressing question is when the mercury got there and if anyone suffered any ill effects from it.

"It's extremely important because of the health factor," he said.

Mercury, a naturally occurring element, is used in thermometers, barometers and in some electrical appliances. It is also used for extracting gold and silver from ore.

Mercury is poisonous and can enter the body through the respiratory or digestive tract or directly through the skin. It accumulates in the body, eventually causing severe illness or death.

Boothe said because cleanup is time consuming and all 19 apartments must be aired out, there is not an estimate as to when the tenants can return.