Other articles by Carol Ann Alaimo:

Program will put recent war veterans in 'green' jobsD-M would gain 400 posts, Air Guard lose 126 in proposed Air Force budgetAmerican Legion Post 131 is fast starterBig-screen TVs, Wi-Fi, maybe a smoking banMilitary leader to stay in Southern Arizona Study seeks military spouses Tucson woman to honor mate's Navy service in burial at sea Dentist's family's troubles resurfaceSoldier lost half his skull but not his determinationHorses as therapists: helping veterans heal

Administrative & Professional
Jorgensen Brooks Group
Counselor Finance and Accounting
Charles E. Gillman Company
Accounting Specialist Construction
West-Press
Printing Health Care
Sierra Tucson
Eating Disorders Program Coordinator Trades/Construction
RANCHO RESORT
MAINTANANCE POSITION Mechanical
Komatsu Equipment Co
Resident Field Mechanic Health Care
CENTRAL ARIZONA COLLEGE
DIRECTOR OF HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

A recent cleanup of toxic mercury under a busy medical clinic at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base did not comply with federal guidelines, and experts say the area might still be contaminated.

A Tucson contractor hired by the base used a questionable cleanup method — initial reports said a broom and dustpan — and air inside the clinic was not tested to federal safety standards by D-M before base officials decided it was OK to keep the clinic open, the Arizona Daily Star has learned.

D-M said the base complied with laws protecting the workers who cleaned up the mercury. But based on the Star's findings, officials said they are contacting the Environmental Protection Agency to see if more should be done to protect patients and staff.

"If there's anything else we can do to ensure the safety of our people, now and in the future, we will do it," the base commander, Col. Paul Johnson, said.

Liquid mercury emits an odorless vapor. Exposure can cause brain and kidney damage as well as vision, breathing and memory problems, depending on the amount and duration of exposure, and can even be fatal.

Even tiny amounts — smaller than a pencil-tip eraser — can be toxic, especially to children.

D-M's mercury problem arose a few weeks ago during a $3.9 million upgrading of the aging clinic near the Wilmot Road gate.

The facility sees 8,700 patients a month, including airmen, spouses, children and retirees.

The clinic was built in 1961, when the silvery liquid metal often was used in thermometers and other medical devices.

As a result, medical buildings now are common sites for mercury cleanups nationwide, experts say.

On Aug. 13, civilian plumbers were removing old sewer pipes from a 200-foot-long crawlspace under the clinic when they developed headaches, watery eyes and burning throats.

One plumber said liquid mercury had spilled from a pipe, and the clinic was shut down while D-M's environmental staffers checked it out.

They couldn't see any mercury, so they didn't test for it, although they ran other hazard tests and found nothing wrong, D-M officials said in written responses to questions from the Star.

The plumbers were sent for an off-base medical checkup and were found to be fine, so D-M reopened its clinic and work resumed.

The next day, plumbers again saw beads of silvery liquid on the crawlspace floor and marked the area. This time, D-M staffers saw it, too, and hired a Tucson environmental contractor, Southwest Hazard Control Inc., to clean it.

Jim Santino, a division manager for the firm, said in an interview that his workers had no specific training in mercury removal. He said such training does not exist — although the EPA says it offers classes.

There's no federal law stating how mercury must be cleaned up. Its health risks have only become widely known in recent years, experts say, so, in the absence of laws, agencies such as the EPA have established cleanup guidelines for public protection.

Santino said he has largely relied on "trial and error" to learn how to clean up mercury. Sometimes it can't done "by the book," and that was the case at D-M, he said, because of the confines of the 41-inch-tall crawlspace.

He initially said a broom and dustpan and a vacuum cleaner were used to clean up the spill — glaring violations of EPA guidelines. The EPA says those methods make contamination worse by dispersing mercury and creating more fumes.

Santino later said his workers used a dustpan, a piece of cardboard and a vacuum cleaner, which still wouldn't meet EPA standards.

The only law that limits mercury exposure falls under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and is solely intended to protect workers who encounter it. Both Santino and D-M say they followed that law to the letter.

But steps the EPA recommends to protect the public weren't taken, since D-M believed there was no danger given the size and site of the spill. Because those steps weren't taken, it's possible mercury contamination still exists inside and around the clinic, experts say.

For example, the EPA recommends use of a highly sensitive gauge to check indoor air for mercury vapor after a cleanup. D-M didn't use that device.

Walkways and other areas near a spill also should be checked with the gauge, because workers typically track mercury around on their clothes or shoes, creating corridors of contamination. That step also wasn't taken.

Santino, of Southwest Hazard Control, said it wasn't his company's job to address those issues. The firm was hired to remove the spilled mercury and tainted piping, not to investigate whether the clinic is safe, he said.

Steve Calanog, chief of emergency response for the EPA in Arizona, said the amount of mercury in the pipes, alone, suggests there may still be contamination.

D-M said up to a cup of mercury — about 8 pounds since the liquid is so heavy — was spread out in 200 feet of pipe, though less than 2 tablespoons — 1 pound — spilled.

Calanog, who reviewed the written responses D-M provided to the Star, said mercury may still be in drains that led to the old pipes, in flooring over the crawlspace or in restrooms and other areas used by plumbers who discovered the spill. All those sites need to be checked, he said.

"You can't give it a clean bill of health at this point," he said. "Until it's proven otherwise, I would assume there is mercury contamination in the clinic."

A mercury expert, who also reviewed D-M's responses, agreed.

Joel Hogue president of Ohio-based Elemental Services and Consulting Inc., which specializes in mercury cleanup and has trained staff at the EPA, state health departments and other public agencies, said D-M hasn't yet taken the steps needed to ensure the clinic is fit for use.

"If you are not using the right measuring instrument and you're not cleaning up the mercury properly and you're not testing for tracking," he said, "how can you have a high degree of certainty that the space is safe for human occupancy?"