More Mercury, Uranium Found Near Museum

In July, crews digging for the Johnson Museum expansion uncovered what was then described as a "small amount of mercury." The area in which they were digging was the location of Morse Hall, the former chemistry building which was demolished in 1956.

Turns out it wasn't such a small amount after all.

What was first reported to the Department of Environmental Conservation in July as a 1.5-pound spill is actually about 30 pounds, or about two liters of mercury, said Steve Beyers, manager of the Engineering Services Group in Cornell's Office of Environmental Compliance and Sustainability.

"It's a substantial amount," he said. "I don't think we've ever had that much spill at once."

Crews will have to dig deeper into the ground to uncover the rest of the mercury, so we can expect that costs will increase and the project will take longer.

Uranium ore was also found on the site.

Along with the mercury, the excavation team found approximately 10 pounds of uranium ore and some blue- and white-colored materials, which could either be reacted chemical material from the lab or art supplies from the building's art studio days. In either case, the materials were determined not to be volatile or reactive, Beyers said.

The uranium ore was probably brought to the lab around the turn of the 20th century, Beyers said. "The mercury is by far the thing that causes the most effort," he said.

In dealing with old buildings, these types of discoveries are fairly common. When workers were installing a sprinkler system in my fraternity house a couple of years ago, crews discovered asbestos in various parts of the house. The asbestos delayed the project by a few weeks and added several thousand dollars to our expenses.