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Hazmat spill cleaned off Vancouver sidewalk

May 31, 2016, Vancouver - A hazardous materials team in Vancouver has cleaned up a spill of mercury near a popular beach.

Silvery beads of the liquid metallic element were spotted along the sidewalk near the bathhouse in English Bay late Sunday afternoon.

Battalion chief Peter Bridge of the Vancouver fire department says there's no indication where the mercury originated, but it was vacuumed up within a few hours.

He says the spill covered an area about three metres by eight metres, equalling the amount found in about 100 thermometers.

Mercury is toxic and firefighters swabbed the shoes of some passersby who unwittingly walked through the contaminated area, but officials are confident any exposure was minimal.

May 31, 2016 
By The Canadian Press