Washoe school trustees plan to bill the parents of two students involved in a mercury spill last month at Reed High School for the cost of cleaning up the mess.
And trustees have approved spending 20-thousand dollars for the
work.
District spokesman Steve Mulvenon says that's standard
procedure. If the money can't be recouped, he says the district
will have to turn to a special insurance fund.
One student unscrewed a barometer in a science lab and the
mercury leaked to the floor. Another student then put it in a small
vial and apparently carried it across the street.
Two students were disciplined and nine students were forced to
undergo decontamination in early November for a spill that caused
the school to be shut down for more than a day.
Trace amounts of mercury were found throughout Washoe County's
largest high school, and drops of the toxic liquid metal were
spilled across Baring Boulevard on a sidewalk next to a shopping
center.