LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials are onsite at Applegate Lane, cleaning up mercury found at one of the two homes connected to Marc Hibel.
At the same time, the agency is considering what to do about 6213 Applegate Lane, the home found packed with chemicals so dangerous the city initially said burning it was the safest option.
The EPA still hasn’t made a final recommendation to the city on whether a controlled burn is the best option.
For now, the focus is on 6211 Applegate, where mercury removal was deemed necessary when the EPA visited the site earlier in August.
Chuck Berry, the EPA Emergency Response Branch’s on-scene coordinator, said the process is expected to take three days.
"It's a slow methodical process that takes a lot of time and effort and a lot of work by our contractors to just be as focused as they can while they work. It's hard to find sometimes," Berry said.
The EPA used air monitoring devices to sweep the house for mercury, finding and removing the beads. They plan to tear up the driveway, remove items from the home, clean tile and remove carpeting.
Berry said the mercury in the home is mostly contained in the carpeting.
"It gets woven down into the carpet and off gases from inside there," he said.
Berry said the EPA has also found additional chemicals inside the home.
"There are other chemicals, those will probably be addressed with the home next door," he said. "They're small bottles of this, that keep turning up in places with very low volumes, and we'll work to move those over into the other house so they can be addressed at the same time."
There isn’t a firm timeline for dealing with the other home, described as a hoarder house filled with dangerous chemicals.
The city initially proposed a controlled burn, but the EPA has been charged with assessing other alternatives.
Tuesday, Berry said removing the chemicals by hand isn't an option, something determined after speaking with contractors.
"Most of them all thought that the hazard level was too high to physically pick the bottles up and take them out of the home," Berry said. "There are so many unknown and unlabeled chemicals in there that are stored in makeshift and sort of random containers that no one really felt comfortable doing that. The risk to their own workers is just too great."
However, a mechanical removal could still be an option.
"The second step would be doing a mechanical removal, basically tearing house down with excavator and trying to remove those chemicals out of the way, but again we run into issues and problems from a disposal side with that and we have to work through that before we recommend it," Berry said.
Berry said in addition to the alternatives, the EPA is considering disposal processes for pre- and post-controlled burn scenarios before making a final recommendation.
While the EPA makes its assessment, the city said a controlled burn is still on the table. Officials are still making plans for that possibility, though they've previously said residents in the area would be given 48 hours notice before a burn takes place.
People in the area had been urged to contact the health department if they believed they needed mercury testing because of exposure to 6211 Applegate.
So far, city officials told WHAS11 News the health department has not been contacted.
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