LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Federal officials confirmed Friday the discovery of a dangerous metal at 6211 Applegate Lane, the house next door to the Highview home where explosives were found earlier this month.

In a news release Friday, Louisville Metro Emergency Services said testing by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency identified mercury outside and inside the home at 6211 Applegate Lane. The agency is recommending a cleanup at the site before any possible demolition or controlled burn of the home next door, at 6213 Applegate Lane, where explosives were found. The EPA is expected to make a recommendation on how to proceed next week.

"Exposure is minimal, this is all being done as a precaution," Dr. Inder Singal, Louisville Metro Public Health and Wellness’ Interim Medical Director, said. "Mayor (Greenberg) wants to make sure the safety of our neighborhood is the ultimate goal here."

The EPA will coordinate with Kentucky Emergency Management and the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection to begin a cleanup on site Tuesday. The cleanup is expected to take three days.

They said restoration might take several weeks to schedule with the installers.

The property remains fenced, secured and under 24-hour surveillance by Louisville Metro Police.

According to the city, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said "mercury is a metal that is found naturally in the environment. Mercury is a shiny, silver-colored liquid that has been used to make many kinds of products, like glass thermometers, fluorescent (CFL) lamps and light bulbs, and medical and science equipment. If a product with mercury in it breaks and the mercury spills out, it can turn into poisonous vapors (fumes) that can be breathed in."

The cleanup process includes:

  • Furniture/ carpet removal
  • Tile/ linoleum flooring cleaned with a sulfur compound and special vacuum
  • Test for cleanup efficacy; the goal is for detections below 1000 ng per cubic meter
  • If needed, identify additional areas of contamination and continue the remove/test cycle until the indoor air meets the cleanup goals.
  • Restoration, including replacing carpet and repouring the concrete.

"The mercury levels are so low, especially in an outdoor setting, that we don't expect any additional exposure when we're doing this," Dr. Singal said.

Air monitoring performed by the EPA and Louisville Metro determined the mercury concentrations inside the building are over EPA's and CDC's health risk levels. The elevated concentrations of mercury are limited to inside the building and do not present health risks to persons outside, according to Metro Louisville officials.

"The amounts of mercury that we are detecting do not present a health concern," Nick Hart, director of division of environmental health, said. "In fact, the amounts of mercury in the home -- while they're above recommended levels for occupancy, they're not so high as to create a public health concern."

EPA found visible mercury beads on the driveway where the original spill happened, but the city said the mercury vapor quickly diluted to undetectable levels in the ambient air and poses no health risk to the public. The city warns that the mercury beads can be tracked from the site and into homes on the shoes of people who walk through the area, which is why the home remains blocked and first responders are advised not to enter the area.

IMAGES | Inside the Highview home where explosives and chemicals were found

Louisville officials are trying to determine the best way to remove hazardous materials from the home on Applegate Lane. 

Louisville Metro Public Health and Wellness screened the shoes and vehicles of first responders who walked through the property last week and identified very low or no presence of mercury.

Residents who have been near the property on Applegate Lane over the past month can contact the health department for free mercury screening of shoes and vehicles. Testing takes seconds and takes place at the health department's main office at 400 E. Gray Street, Louisville, KY 40202. Please call 502-574-6650 to schedule an appointment.

Anyone with questions about potential health impacts of mercury exposure should call Kentucky Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 (choose option 2).

"We do not expect any amounts of mercury that have potentially left the property would cause a health concern, nor do we feel the amounts of mercury that are on the property would create health concerns for the people outside of the fenced area," Hart said.

For additional information about the investigation into the property on Applegate Lane, click here. 

The city of Louisville filed a demolition order Aug. 1 for the home at 6213 Applegate Lane. The paperwork said the home and the adjacent garage have "known explosives, explosive fumes or vapors or the presence of toxic fume gases, or material ..." It also said that if the buildings were ignited, they'd be in "imminent danger" of collapse, possibly endangering anyone around.

Officials have also compared the condition of the home to that of a hoarder. It is filled with items, which compounds finding any possible explosives dangerous chemicals. 

The investigation started July 27, when police went to the home on Applegate and arrested Marc Hibel, 53, on a tip that he "may be in possession of homemade explosives."

Officials found more than 20 dangerous chemicals in the home. Police said Hibel "is a chemist by trade and admitted to possessing laboratory-grade equipment and chemicals."

Hibel pleaded not guilty to wanton endangerment and burglary charges. 

Hibel's attorney filed a motion to asking that the house not be allowed to be burned. They maintain that Hibel is a former chemist, and if the home if burned, it will destroy materials that could be used in his defense.  

Initial plans by the city were to burn down the house, but after meetings with local residents and federal officials, Mayor Greenberg consulted with the EPA. 

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