Image: The front doors of Hannah Community Center

This article picks up from "The Mercurial Trail, Part 6: Blown Out."

Image: a vestibule at the Hannah Community Center

This article picks up from "The Mercurial Trail, Part 5: The Violations."

The subject line on Paul Stokes’ email alert to the upper ranks of City management—“Past mercury concern”—didn’t quite capture the volatility of the situation, a volatility that seems to have quickly become clear to the City Manager.

Photo: Student managers and MSU Athletic Marketing worked together to place pink poms on every seat for last Sunday’s breast cancer awareness game against Maryland.

In September, I applied for a job as a student manager for the Michigan State University Women’s Basketball Team. After a try-out and interview, I was selected. I knew I wanted to keep basketball as an integral part of my life after playing the sport from the first grade up until the varsity level in high school.

Image: The sign outside the Wastewater Treatment Plant

This article picks up from "The Mercurial Trail, Part 2: The Spill Spreads."

What finally compelled a worker at the East Lansing Wastewater Treatment Plant to call the authorities and report the November 2013 mercury spill, four months after it happened?

In a word: fear.

"Remember that one time on Valentine’s Day when we ate all the condiments at Emo’s?"

Photo/Image: p. Gordon on Flickr, showing elemental mercury spilled from an old thermostat switch

Last week, thanks to a tip from an ELi reader, Ann Nichols and I broke the story of a lawsuit against the City of East Lansing by a group of workers from the Wastewater Treatment Plant. According to their legal complaint, the workers are suing because they “were intentionally and unnecessarily exposed to mercury and asbestos.”

The City of East Lansing has unveiled e-Town Hall, a new way to interact with citizens and to collect opinions on specific issues. At press time, the site was soliciting citizen opinions on two topics: “What would you like to see done with the Bailey Community Center building?” and “Downtown Visions” which focuses on matters of use and density for future downtown development.