Public Works

Above: Stacks at BWL's Eckert Station

Image: photo apparently showing the mercury-leaking manometer in an outside open tub, where it was left for months following the spill; there also appears to be a thermometer in the tub. Details below.

Image: PDIG's representatives listening to Council's deliberations last night

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.

Image: the mailbox of the East Lansing Wastewater Treatment Plant

This article picks up from "The Mercurial Trail, Part 4: The Remains of the Day."

Image: A Granger dumpster (not the one involved in the mercury spill) at East Lansing’s Waste Water Treatment Plant

The article picks up from "The Mercurial Trail, Part 3: The Call."

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.

Image: fall leaves along the Red Cedar River

This article picks up from "The Mercurial Trail, Part 1: The Spill."

Image: Layout of the East Lansing Wastewater Treatment Plant, courtesy of City of East Lansing

Even if you don’t know where the East Lansing Wastewater Treatment Plant is by sight, you may know its location by smell. If you’re turning off of southbound 127 onto Trowbridge Road and it’s a warm day, you can often smell the sewage just as you round the curve. The formal address of the plant is 1700 Trowbridge Road.

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.”

Image: The Wastewater Treatment Plant, courtesy City of East Lansing

On a tip, ELi has learned that a lawsuit has been filed against the City of East Lansing by nine employees who have worked at the City’s Wastewater Treatment Plant. The workers’ Complaint alleges that workers at the plant “were intentionally and unnecessarily exposed to mercury and asbestos.” (We obtained a copy of the Complaint from the Court, and you can read it here.)