Mercury scare should not have happened

By all accounts, public health and safety officials acted swiftly and correctly when they learned that children had been playing with potentially harmful mercury at a Halawa housing project.

What is astounding, however, is how much of the material had been spread around before it came to official notice. It was found on the ground, in homes, on clothing and elsewhere.

Surely, someone must have known that this is a dangerous substance, not a toy. If any good comes from this incident, it will be that parents and educators have been given a fresh lesson to teach youngsters about the dangers that surround them.

Once the clean-up is completed, someone will have to answer how this material was so easily available to youngsters in the area. It appears that the mercury was in equipment found in an abandoned former Navy pumping station that is now in the control of the state.

Clearly, it is unreasonable to expect the government — either the Navy or the state — to protect everyone from each and every imaginable danger. But someone should have recognized that this "attractive nuisance" should have been removed long before curious children could get their hands on it.

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