The De Soto Post Office, 950 Boyd Street, has been temporarily shut down since Thursday afternoon, Oct. 26, when a small amount of mercury leaked from a package and a Post Office employee was taken to an area hospital as a precautionary measure, De Soto Fire Chief Tony Ochoa said.
Mark Johnson, a spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, said an unknown amount of elemental mercury was released from a package on the conveyor system that sorts mail at the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) distribution facility in Hazelwood.
“There were large beads found around one of the conveyor collection points (in Hazelwood),” he said. “The large beads were collected and removed from the facility. Upon further investigation, more (mercury) was found at another facility in De Soto.”
Johnson said an investigation was still underway this afternoon, Oct. 27.
“A contractor was hired and is currently remediating both facilities,” he said. “The affected employees of the Hazelwood facility were all surveyed and cleared of (mercury) contamination.”