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Suspected hazardous material found near BI
School in modified lockdown
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A hazmat worker examines a substance found in Bradwell Insitute's parking lot Wednesday morning. Workers later confirmed the substance was mercury.

An unidentified silvery substance the size of two teaspoons was discovered in a staff parking area at Bradwell Institute, Wednesday morning.

Principal Scott Carrier said faculty members immediately roped off the area, called the Liberty County Emergency Management Agency and placed the school in a modified lockdown. No one is allowed in or out of the building at this time.

Hinesville Fire Department’s hazardous material team spokesman, Capt. Kristian Johanson, said his department contacted the Georgia Environmental Protection Department and a “hazmat” clearing specialist is currently testing the substance to see if it is mercury.

If it is mercury, he said a hazmat clearing company will collect the substance and clear the area around it, even if it requires use of a backhoe to dig up asphalt and soil under the substance. And if it’s determined the substance was accidentally tracked into the school by students walking through the parking lot, decontamination procedures would be followed.

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