Mercury Disposal
If you have items that contain mercury, you can still drop them off at the Lincoln County landfills. Be sure to review this fact sheet (pdf) for information on transporting liquid mercury and what to do if you are concerned about health effects.
Lincoln County Landfills
- Libby Landfill, Mon - Sat, 8am - 5pm
- Troy Landfill, Mon - Sat, 10am - 6pm
- Eureka Landfill, Mon - Fri 8am - 5:30pm, Sat 9 am - 5pm
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Background
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deployed On-Scene Coordinators (OSCs) to Libby, MT, accompanied by a contractor and a Lumex mercury vapor analyzer (MVA). The OSCs assessed residences affected by a confirmed mercury spill.
The incident occurred sometime in late September 2025 when the resident’s child’s friend brought a fruit cup filled with mercury to the home. The mercury was spilled onto a rug in the child’s room and played with before the friend returned home. At that point, the resident child rolled the mercury beads into the rug and placed the rug under the bed. Subsequently, the child developed symptoms that were initially diagnosed as Scarlet Fever by medical professionals. Family pets exhibited similar symptoms. On Friday, November 21, 2025, the homeowner discovered and collected mercury beads under furniture in the child’s room, prompting the parent to alert a physician. EPA was called on November 22.
The family was relocated to a local hotel. EPA followed up with mercury screening of all locations related to this incident using the Lumex MVA. The agency contacted local public health officials to inform them of the situation.
EPA screened homes the children may have visited and did not see elevated concentrations of mercury throughout those homes. Two homes had elevated concentrations in a washing machine. At this time it appears the spread of mercury throughout the community is limited.
If you have mercury at your home that you would like to dispose of, EPA encourages you to bring the material to any of the Lincoln County landfills. You can drop off the material for free during business hours.
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- Libby Landfill, Mon - Sat, 8am - 5pm
- Troy Landfill, Mon - Sat, 10am - 6pm
- Eureka Landfill, Mon - Fri 8am - 5:30pm, Sat 9 am - 5pm
Symptoms of mercury poisoning include headaches, fever, and skin rashes. Please visit the EPA website for information about the health effects of mercury poisoning.
