EDC orders tests for employees in Quonset mercury spill

PROVIDENCE — Conceding that, in hindsight, it should have notified employees
sooner at the Quonset Point power plant of a mercury spill, the Rhode Island Economic
Development Corp. has ordered health checkups for those employees. However, EDC
officials asserted they did not believe any employees came in contact with the
mercury, a highly toxic chemical. According to the EDC five pounds of mercury
spilled from a dislodged measuring device on the third floor of a building that
adjoins the six-story power plant. The spill was reportedly discovered on Tuesday
during a routine inspection, but employees were not informed until Thursday because
the spill was being investigated and management decided not to alarm the five
employees, EDC officials said. The EDC directed a cleanup of the area and reported
recovering four pounds of mercury. An official speculated that the fifth pound
of mercury had evaporated. The Department of Environmental Management ordered
the area segregated and was investigating the spill.