NEW VIDEO: Mercury exposure at Calusa Planetarium sends three to hospital

UPDATE 9:00 pm.:
The Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium said three people went to the hospital from mercury exposure after breaking a light bulb in the planetarium’s projector.

Fox 4’s Austin Schargorodski went there as soon as he heard about what happened, and watched as teams worked to decontaminate the area for mercury. Watch the full report here...

Eric Raddatz, the planetarium’s director, said the planetarium is being renovated, so they upgraded to a new projector and are donating the old one to a college in Fort Pierce.

“A team came out today to dismantle it, and one of the employees of the college hit a light bulb, and the light bulb burst leaving her exposed to some mercury. It’s a very small amount from what I’m told,” said Raddatz.

Austin Schargorodski

Fort Myers Fire Department’s division chief, Todd Poland, said the girl and two other college employees drove themselves to the hospital after it happened. He said they were decontaminated and evaluated.

Poland said only a small amount of mercury escaped, so they’re doing clean-up using mercury detectors to make sure it all gets removed properly.

Austin Schargorodski

“We took it very seriously - safety is our top priority at the Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium. As we renovate and look forward to creating a new planetarium environment, this is part of the process of shaping it into something bigger and better for the community, and we’re very glad to always have a safe space,” said Raddatz.

Raddatz said he expects the planetarium will be cleaned by the end of the day Thursday, but it will remain temporarily closed for renovations. However, the Nature Center will be open as normal.

Austin Schargorodski

UPDATE 6:30 pm.:

A Lee Health spokesperson says three people went to the emergency room for potential mercury exposure.

The hospital says it quickly isolated patients to minimize additional exposures.

"The Lee Memorial Hospital emergency department is currently diverting EMS ambulances to other hospitals but walk-ins are being accepted," a spokesperson said.

According to the Fort Myers Fire Department, the three people drove themselves to the hospital. The fire department is working with the Department of Environmental Protection who has a mercury detector. Hazmat is at the hospital for decontamination.

At this time, no one else has been exposed.

Raddatz says the college students were there to pick up the projector for their school when the bulb broke.

ORIGINAL STORY:
One person is in the hospital for mercury exposure stemming from the Calusa Planetarium.

Executive Director Eric Raddatz says a college student was removing a projector system on Thursday afternoon. A bulb in the projector had a small amount of mercury in it, Raddatz told Fox 4.

When the person was removing it, Raddatz said the bulb went off and some got on the college student.

According to sources inside Lee Memorial Hospital, a memo was sent out to staff about a patient coming in with "contamination." The patient was "isolated" and decontamination is underway.

The memo also says the emergency department is running as normal.

Raddatz says they are going to be ok.

As a precaution, the fire department has closed off the area.

Raddatz emphasized it was a small amount of mercury and doesn't believe there will be long-lasting problems.

The planetarium is in the process of swapping out the projector and donating it to a college as it undergoes renovations. It has been closed since the renovations started.