Thermostat mercury theft in Spelman bewilders officials

Mercury was stolen from six thermostats in building six of Spelman Hall this summer, in what University officials have described as an unsolved act of vandalism.

"In six of the eight suites in one entry of Spelman, when our tradesmen were going to adjust thermostats, the units did not click on," said Bill Traubel, director of grounds and building maintenance. "Inside a typical thermostat there is a bulb of mercury . . . somebody had snipped them out."

University officials were bewildered as to the motive for the strange theft.

"I've been here nine years," Traubel said. "It's never happened before."

Mercury is used in thermostats, as in thermometers, because it expands and contracts depending on the temperature, he explained.

Because mercury is a hazardous substance, Traubel said, older mercury thermostats are being phased out in favor of new "bimetallic" models.

In these, two different metals with different degrees of responsiveness to heat are attached to each other. When the temperature changes, the metal strips bend to turn the thermostat on or off.

The broken thermostats in Spelman have been replaced with bimetallic models, Traubel said.

The building was under renovation this summer. Representatives from the University's environmental health and safety office tested rooms for mercury contamination and found none, said Capt. Don Reichling, a Public Safety spokesman.

The University does not suspect student involvement in the incident.

"The likelihood of students going to all six rooms is kind of weird," Reichling said. "You always look for the common denominator that gives you where your suspects are going to be found, and in this case it looks like the outside contractor."

"I can't see students doing that," he said. "No suspects were developed."