Grand Street Mercury Site, Hoboken, New Jersey

In 1996, an artist community living and working in an old lightbulb factory discovered gallons of elemental mercury under a floor. After an unsuccessful remediation effort by a local company, the building was declared a Superfund site. Community members were evacuated due to unsafe levels of mercury exposure. Stress due to exposure and relocation was identified during medical assessments, and an ATSDR Medical Officer became involved. After conducting a community needs assessment, ATSDR provided training on contamination-related stress to personnel at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and worked with them to provide a support and referral network for community members.