HAZELWOOD, Mo. — A mercury contamination incident could be the reason U.S. Postal Service packages are delayed in the St. Louis area.
The mercury spill happened at the end of last month just days before Halloween, and ever since, customers said they’ve watched their packages go all over the country with no answers from USPS.
A Wentzville man said he was expecting a package to be delivered through the USPS just days after the shipping label was created, and after not receiving it on time, he checked the tracking.
“My package was sent from Fort Worth, Texas, and ended up in Dallas, Texas. Then it arrived in St. Louis, Missouri, network distribution center. It carried on to the Wildwood branch. And then we have Valley Park, then ultimately Springfield, Missouri, then back to our St. Louis branch,” the USPS customer said.
The customer said the package then went to Virginia and Illinois before making its way back to Missouri again. He said it was so strange he went to the post office in person to get some answers.
He wanted to remain anonymous for employment reasons unrelated to the story.
“The gentleman that was working there said that they had a hazmat leak involving mercury, a mercury spill or contamination at the Hazelwood plant,” the customer said.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources said an environmental emergency response team was called out to the USPS Hazelwood Distribution Center on Oct. 26 where they found a significant amount of mercury on a processing table and conveyor belt.
The DNR said the facility was evacuated.
In a statement, a DNR spokesperson said, "Our staff used a mercury vapor analyzer to screen the employees who were working in the area of the mercury release. None of the employees had any mercury contamination present on their clothing or person."
While customers 5 On Your Side spoke with on Facebook and on the phone said they finally received their packages Monday, they are still concerned.
“I think that's important to be vigilant and watch out for any problems that may arise. But we just need to know for the safety of everybody involved and also the people at the other processing plants,” the customer said.
Not long after the Hazelwood incident, the DNR said they were alerted to another mercury release at the Desoto post office which sent one worker to the hospital they believed the two were connected and that it likely came from a package.
It looked like they were back to work at the Hazelwood center Monday, but USPS did not respond to a request for comment to get more information.