No one was injured when E.O. Smith High School was evacuated Monday afternoon after a small chemical spill in a science laboratory, officials said.
A 500-milliliter bottle of a chemical was spilled as students completed a chemistry lab session after school, about 2:15 p.m., said Mansfield Fire Chief Al Hawkins.
Bruce Silva, superintendent of schools in the regional school district, identified the chemical as being acetic anhydrize, which is commonly used in organic chemistry classes. About 20 students who had remained after school were evacuated. Clean Harbors, an environmental cleanup company based in New Britain, came to clean up the lab, Hawkins said.
“From what we were told, it was the type of stuff you definitely would not want to inhale,” Hawkins said.
Students said they waited outside for more than an hour while officials from the state Department of Environmental Protection came to supervise the cleanup. The cleanup was completed at about 4 p.m. and the school was declared safe to reopen, Silva said. School will be in session as usual today.
Chris Decker, a junior from Ashford, was taking a World Civilizations final exam after school, and was forced to finish it in his teacher’s car because the school had been closed.
“It wasn’t bad,” he said. “It was a comfortable car, so it was better than standing in the street.”
