OCEAN MIST
Las Vegas, NV
8208 Ocean Mist Ct.
Las Vegas, NV 89128
Latitude: 36.2060960
Longitude: -115.2726140
This is the first time I had heard the term metallurgist thrown around as a garage hobby so naturally, this site held a strange curiosity for me. My wife and I were in Vegas and we decided to drive by this site on our way to the Red Rock Canyon. Like many communities this points out the mystery and risk of your neighbor’s garage. I say that satirically. Like some strange legal Breaking Bad scenario playing out, I visualize a mad chemist next door. This was a gated community and I was only able to photograph from the road. I find it also a bit ironic it was a gated community, and that some how it serves as a greater metaphor to this entire project. In reality a gated community serves as a reminder of social economic divisions and is created to protect the individuals within from the possible dangers out side of that gate.
On December 27, 2012, the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) regarding Mercury and other chemical containers stored in the garage of a residential property recorded a spill notification. The current resident and owner of the property, stated that there was no spill, however she lacked the resources to properly dispose of the chemicals.
On January 2, 2013, representatives from Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) went to the residence to meet with the property owner and survey her garage. The property owner stated that her caregiver and tenant was a metallurgist and had been using the garage as a makeshift test laboratory. Unfortunately the caregiver died several weeks earlier and the resident, who is 87 years old with limited mobility, had no idea what to do with the chemicals. After completing a survey of the garage the SNHD representatives called the Clark County fire department for assistance. SNHD also contacted the USEPA to inform them of the situation. The Environmental Response Team was dispatched to the scene and provided technical assistance to SNHD. The Hazmat team and ERT completed a second survey. A partial list of the chemicals found are as follows: Ammonium Nitrate, Sodium Cyanide, Phosphorous Pentoxide, Benzonitrite, Hydroxylamine Hydro-chlorine, Cobalt Chloride, Hypophosphorus acid.
SNHD made a formal request to USEPA emergency response for assistance in resolving the situation. On December 3, 2013 On Scene Coordinator Will Duncan responded to a residential property in Las Vegas, Nevada with the ERRS contractor to conduct an emergency response action.
