4 minute read
Toxic isotopes found at old chem building
Kat Mabry / Roundup
A fire department hazardous materials team (Hazmat) concluded that there was no danger or threat to Pierce College at the end of the day on Friday following a chemical spill from an underground vault discovered in the old Chemistry 800 building during on campus renovations.
A group of construction workers stumbled upon the vault during a digging project and officials officials immediately once there was concern of the containers being broken.
14 construction workers were in proximity to the hazardous area and isolated for treatment and consultation, according to officials.
Emergency Medical Technicians offered to evacuate the workers, but they declined.
No one involved showed signs of contamination, according to Capt. Sean Miller of the Los Angeles City Fire Department.
The LAFD responded to the call quickly, along with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD), and L.A. County Department of Public Health.
By coincidence, the LAFD was conducting practice drills down the street from campus that same afternoon.
Teams were specifically working 7.2 earthquake drills, playing out scenarios involving hazardous spills, according to officials.
Two Hazmat teams arrived on the scene and a perimeter was formed around the contaminated area in Parking Lot 7.
The underground vault held eight labeled containers, four of which had low-level radioactive materials inside. Following further inspection, the fire department found none of the four to be broken or unsealed.
Once Hazmat teams were present and gathered to inspect the one chemical that spilled, they took samples before releasing the information officially.
In the meantime, the Pierce College Sheriff’s department declared several areas on campus unsafe and refused entrance to students and faculty. Two classrooms in the surrounding area were evacuated.
Following the inspection and the identification of the spilled chemical, Hazmat firefighters decontaminated and released the workers involved.
The containers were most likely placed there in 1965, according to Larry Kraus, associate vice president of administrative services.
“It is still unclear as to how the containers got there,” said Kraus. “It is believed that they were used in various experiments at the time, and over the years they were forgotten about.”
The old Chemistry Building and old Child Development Center have been left unused and untouched since summer session of last year, once the new Center for Sciences and Child Development Center buildings opened.
Crews worked Friday and Saturday to ensure that the area was safe for students and faculty.
The containers held radioactive isotopes, declared safe by the Bureau of Environmental Protection of the county health department, according to Kraus.
Communication was key during the out-of-the-ordinary situation.
During inspections, Vice President of Student Services, Joy McCaslin, and Kraus, stayed on scene to ensure that the students at Pierce were safe.
Kraus was in constant communication with Kathleen Burke-Kelly, Pierce College president and Doreen Clay, public relations manager, according to Clay.
Clay updates the Pulse, a news and events hot spot found on the Pierce College website.
She continued to update the release concerning the Hazmat spill while she obtained information throughout the day’s events from Kraus.
Of greatest concern were if classes should be canceled the following day and whether the campus needed to be evacuated, according to Clay.
“I’m proud of the way that everybody played their role and did their part to make sure that the campus was safe,” said Clay.
The release was posted to the Pulse by Friday evening.
“We’ve always had a very safe campus, and we want to make sure it stays that way,” she said.
