A High Risk Lab Decontamination at a Large University

EH&S In Action: A High-Risk Lab Decontamination

A room that people were using to discard unwanted material was discovered at a state university in New York .  There were a number of broken bulbs in the room including mercury-containing fluorescent lamps. Triumvirate's emergency response team came to the scene, cleaned the room, properly disposed of the broken lamps as mercury-containing debris, and performed a thorough decontamination. 

"I'd like to take this opportunity to thank your team for responding to my request to clean up a space on campus where many broken fluorescent bulbs were. In a nutshell, we uncovered a space in the basement of our Humanities building where there were many broken fluorescent light bulbs and other potentially hazardous items that warranted immediate cleanup.This space was also used as a "dumping ground" for other debris and trash, thus making the cleanup even that much more difficult. After seven long hours, much of which was spent in a respirator, they cleaned up this space to a point where it appeared as though you could eat off of the floor! It looked better than I could have ever expected. For that I owe the company huge debt of gratitude - their efforts truly paid off and, although I hope I never come across a space like this on campus again, if I do, I will surely be using Triumvirate."

- Hazardous Waste Manager