An EPA Emergency Response Team, who were
responding to the Helena Mercury Release incident in Helena, MT on June 11, 2024, were contacted by the
Lewis and Clark County Public Health Department to assist with an unrelated
disposal of mercury that the Health Department had collected from a citizen in
the mid-2000s.
A Health Department employee accepted the mercury as a drop-off but was unaware that a Montana DEQ-led disposal
program had ended. The mercury was several decades old and purchased for use in
a dental practice. The combined mercury weighed approximately 5-pounds, and
secured by Public Health in a 5-gallon bucket.
EPA secured and disposed of the collected mercury.
