A mercury spill took place on the first floor of the Heavy Engineering building at approximately 4:30 Wednesday afternoon.
University fire marshals and police officers were immediately dispatched to the scene in order to ensure the safety of students and staff in and around the building.
By 7 p.m., C-CERT representatives had blocked each entrance, and no students were allowed inside the building. According to Assistant Chief of Police Eric Olsen, no students were quarantined during the incident and there are no known injuries at this time.
Officials are currently surveying the scene and investigating the cause of the spill. They are working to ensure safe removal of the mercury.
“To be safe and prevent any unnecessary contamination, the building has been evacuated,” Olsen said in an email.
Assistant Chief of Police Lawrence M. Zacarese sent out a campus-wide safety advisory at 8:17 p.m. characterizing the incident as “a small chemical spill” and ensuring that there is no present danger to the campus community.
Officials are in the process of determining the number of students who were exposed to the mercury.
Correction Sept. 15, 2016
An earlier version of this story misidentified the C-CERT units present at the scene as RSP (Residential Safety Program) representatives.
