Cover up?

[TheMailMan]

It's been in the news the past couple of days that there was a mercury spill at the Coppell mail sorting plant.

It's been reported that 4 gallons of mercury spilled.

I've got a few problems with this story.

1. Maximum package weight in the USPS system is 70 lbs. Mercury weighs 113.4 lbs per gallon. That would require SEVEN packages and to have all SEVEN break open.

2. Mercury is currently going for around $10 a lb. So this four gallons of mercury would be worth over $4500. Anyone shipping $700 worth of mercury isn't just going to put it in a glass jar and throw it in a box.

3. It's illegal to ship mercury through the USPS so what legitimate shipper is going to ship $4500 worth of illegal product through the mail?

4. They are saying that it's mainly letter operations that are being affected. Letters and parcels are handled in different areas of the plant. If anything were to be affected it would be parcel operations.

I have to wonder what it is they are covering up?

 

[Shady]

oh come on no one should check facts just take the news as its reported why would they lie.

 

[TheMailMan]

I'm betting the media is being told it's mercury and they aren't "fact checking". It's the Postal Inspectors that would be the ones covering something up.

 

[digger]

Grin....just imagine if it is true...you know how mercury beads up and splatters in all directions when impacted. Cleaning up 4 gallons would be a nightmare!!!!

 

[busykngt]

This video says the package weighed 25 lbs and that 28 oz (1.75 lbs) spilled.

Typical initial news reporting. When they got a news “deadline” to meet, they’re going to take whatever information they’ve got and to hell with whatever the real *facts* may be.
{Ain’t nobody got time for that}

(See @2:11 mark of this video)

 

[busykngt]

I had wondered what happened to my mail! I figured it just had something to do with a screw-up involving the new Zip Code number the PO assigned us.

 

[dsgrey]

Yes, my Monday mail finally showed up today. Can't wait for the pile of junk mail to arrive in the next few days. Anyone who argues the sky would fall if the USPS did 3 deliveries a week as a cost reduction is crazy.

 

[Charlie]

Subscribed! Don't lick the mail or packages!

 

[avvidclif]

Remember when we would get mercury and coat dimes to make them real shiny???

 

[TheMailMan]

Yes, my Monday mail finally showed up today. Can't wait for the pile of junk mail to arrive in the next few days. Anyone who argues the sky would fall if the USPS did 3 deliveries a week as a cost reduction is crazy.

Unless you run a business that has payments coming through the mail. I'll tell you from 20 years delivering mail it would be a nightmare for the delivery person.

 

[Buckshot Wade]

Here in the Athens area mail delivery was delayed 2 days. Could have been worse. But I'm patient. My bullets from ACME Bullets arrived yesterday. Life in Wade's World goes on.

But I did question mercury begins shipped via USPS rather than a ground carrier designated as a hazmat approved service. Didn't make sense...
Like Inspector Clouseau, I suspect everyone. I suspect even myself. However, I interrogated myself and after 4 hours of waterboarding I did confess to once telling my ex-wife that her dress didn't make her look fat even though it did. But I was cleared from the mercury spill.

 

[busykngt]

I’m hoping the postal inspectors track down the culprit and “throw the book” at him!

My suspicions aren’t “he didn’t know” - I suspect he knew exactly what he was doing and that his actions weren’t legal. If he was just trying to save a few bucks, it needs to cost him more than he ever cared to dream!

[Out of passing curiosity, I’d be interested in knowing who has the need to send mercury through the mail to begin with.]

 

[Buckshot Wade]

[Out of passing curiosity, I’d be interested in knowing who has the need to send mercury through the mail to begin with.]

Unlicensed thermometer manufacturers.

 

[Buckshot Wade]

Oh, and no one gets the book thrown at them anymore. They do however receive a sternly worded email. With politically correct phrases so as to not offend anyone.

 

[busykngt]

Oh, and no one gets the book thrown at them anymore. They do however receive a sternly worded email. With politically correct phrases so as to not offend anyone.

That’s true!

So if my calculations are correct, that package contained a little more that two Coke cans worth if mercury. (That’s a lot of thermometers!).

 

[Sock Puppet]

That’s true!

So if my calculations are correct, that package contained a little more that two Coke cans worth if mercury. (That’s a lot of thermometers!).

Rectal thermometers for elephants????

 

[ZX9RCAM]

That’s true!

So if my calculations are correct, that package contained a little more that two Coke cans worth if mercury. (That’s a lot of thermometers!).

Yep, evidently pretty heavy stuff.

 

[busykngt]

Rectal thermometers for elephants????

Needs to be a rectal thermometer for the guy who mailed the package (and/or the package recipient)! Who the hell orders almost a quarter-gallon worth of mercury? (And then skimps on trying to save a few bucks on a hazmat charge?)

 

[Buckshot Wade]

Gentlemen, this country is rapidly becoming infested with idiots. It doesn't surprise me really.

 

[TheMailMan]

I would guess that it was someone trying to save money. Now their problem is going to be paying the USPS for the cleanup and possible criminal charges.