Mishandled mercury mess

POST FALLS — A mercury spill in a high school science lab has closed the Immaculate Conception St. Dominic school and church until a hazmat team can handle it.

Kootenai Fire and Rescue EMS Chief Steve Isaacson said the school science department had three 2-ounce bottles of mercury stored in a locker in the science lab.

Isaacson said the bottles were set on a counter while the locker was being cleaned on Monday, and a student decided to play with the mercury.

“They were sitting out and one sophomore student decided to see what it looked like in the palm of his hand,” he said, adding two other students decided to do the same thing. “Some of the mercury spilled on the floor.”

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