A gallon of yellow, oil-based paint was dumped in Strawberry Creek in the spring of 1995. It took more than 8 hours to ensure the hazardous material was cleaned up and that the creek was not harmed in the process. Spills such as this, which require assistance from private contractors with special equipment, can be very expensive to clean up. Most are small spills from thermometers breaking, but occasionally larger spills occur, such as the 30 ml of mercury from a manometer that broke in a laboratory explosion. These spills can also be costly.
Spills are preventable.
Careful handling and storage of chemicals, cautious use of equipment, and common sense can avert many spills.