FRIDAY HARBOR FIRE DEPARTMENT

Firefighters clean up mercury spill from grandfather clock

Story and photos by Sharon Kivisto

Firefighter Ron Stanger uses a large syringe to pick up the heavy metal as fellow firefighter John Miller watches.

posted 05/01/2007
Patricia Branstetter was cleaning the grandfather clock at her home in Friday Harbor Monday when one of the pieces broke off and mercury spilled onto the floor. "I wasn't sure who to call," she said. She dialed 911 and the Friday Harbor fire department arrived to deal with the toxic chemical. Deputy Fire Chief Frank Chaffee called the Skagit County Fire Marshal for advice and was transferred to the hazardous materials expert seated next to him.

After contacting the chemistry teacher at Friday Harbor High School, the fire department was able to find a clean up kit at the University of Washington Friday Harbor Labs.

Miller disassembles the weight mechanism in order to remove the rest of the mercury-containing tubes.

When the original tube dropped, mercury fell on the bottom of the clock case and on the floor below the clock in addition to the amount pictured above.

Firefighters John Miller and Ron Stanger safely removed the mercury using a large syringe and materials from the kit. The mercury was taken to the labs which will dispose of it. FHFD will be ordering mercury cleanup kits to replace the one they borrowed from the Labs and to have on hand at the fire station.

According to www.timezone.com/ large tubes of mercury are often located in the pendulum's weight assembly, with the surface of the mercury free to move upward as it expands with temperature, thus shortening the effective length of the pendulum, hopefully just enough to compensate for the expansion of the pendulum's shaft.

While mercury has been replaced by other metals in pendulum clocks, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology physicists have developed an experimental atomic clock based on a single mercury atom which is now at least five times more precise than the national standard clock. The NIST Web site also has a page with the official time

Branstetter posed with the firefighters before the 40-minute cleanup started.

The two remaining tubes of mercury were safely removed from the house.

After removing the mercury with the syringe,
an amalgam was used to pick up any remaining particles.

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