Hazardous Materials Programs

After receiving a call from a resident this morning, our hazmat team identified an additional location in Martinez contaminated with mercury – this one near Rankin Park where Buckley Street hits a dead end. The team immediately conducted cleanup operations at this location after confirming the presence of mercury in the street. We did a visual inspection in the park itself and did not find any evidence of mercury in the park.

Contra Costa Health spoke with the City of Martinez maintenance team and determined that the same garbage truck that collected trash at the Amtrak Station also serviced this location near Rankin Park on Monday, May 8. We have updated the map showing the route the garbage truck took after emptying the contaminated trashcan at the Amtrak station.

Hazmat cleanup crews are currently in the process of decontaminating parts of streets in the Martinez downtown area where mercury has been seen. We estimate the cleanup will take 1-2 days. There will be rolling street closures throughout the day today and possibly into tomorrow as the cleanup work is being done.

The Amtrak station remains closed and we don’t have an estimate for when it will reopen.

Anyone at the Amtrak station Monday or anyone who walked along the affected streets that thinks they may have stepped in mercury should take precautions to avoid contact with it. Shoes or clothes that have touched mercury should be double bagged and sealed shut and placed outside in a secure location. Call our Hazmat Program at 925-655-3200 during regular business hours for further handling instructions.

For more information, see our health advisory and our May 9 press release.

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