CALIFORNIA, Md. – The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office released the following notice:
“Evergreen Elementary School in the Wildewood community in California is dismissing early today due to a hazmat incident. Buses will be picking up students at 12:30 pm for dismissal. Parents who did not plan on picking up their children today are asked to allow the school buses to pick up students.
Law enforcement officers are on the scene to control traffic, and no injuries are reported from the incident. A chemical reaction occurred in the boiler room, which was contained to the boiler room.”
The St. Mary’s County Public Schools released the following statement:
“This morning, February 16, 2023, while a contractor was performing scheduled routine maintenance on the equipment in the boiler room at Evergreen Elementary School, a chemical reaction occurred.
The service provider immediately pulled the fire alarm as a precaution and the building was evacuated.
The chemical being used was a mild acidic inhibitor which could cause mild skin and eye irritation if directly exposed.
No students or staff members were directly exposed. Communications were immediately established with the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to determine any necessary response actions. Power was shut off to prevent further exposure through the school’s ventilation system. Â
It was determined that the necessary cleanup and remediation would continue for approximately two hours. In order to assist with remediation efforts, Evergreen Elementary School will dismiss at 12:30 PM today, with normal bus transportation provided. Â
St. Mary’s County Public Schools will provide an update following the completion of the cleanup.  “
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