Scouts’ honor went out the window at the annual Pinewood Derby race trials conducted by Cub Scout Pack 3072.

Somebody cheated.

During practice runs Friday evening prior to the competition at Quail Run School, one of the racers crashed and a vial of liquid mercury placed inside the car broke apart, splashing the toxic material on the floor, putting as many as 70 Cub Scouts and their parents at risk and prompting a lengthy cleanup.

Pre-race trials were stopped and the derby set for Saturday in the school’s commons area was postponed.

“This was something that shouldn’t have happened,” said Bruce Eggers, Cub Scout pack leader.

No one would confirm who owned the pinewood car weighted with mercury intended to give it an edge on the downhill race course, but they are placing the blame on the Scout’s father — not the Scout.

“I think he’s suffering the consequences,” Eggers said of the parent.

Pinewood Derby cars are carved from a small block of wood. The pack’s rules say that mercury and other liquids can’t be used to add weight to the cars. The cars, subject to a five-ounce limit, are weighed before the race.

“It’s too bad when a parent takes it to this extreme to win,” said Larry Sinks, whose 7-year-old son, Mike, was planning to enter the race.

“I didn’t like it,” Mike Sinks said. “I was looking forward to it. I painted my car to look like (NASCAR racer) Robby Gordon’s car.”

“I think it’s a shame,” said Kent Houk, who worked with his 7-year-old son, Coleman, on their car. “I’m sure there are lot of kids disappointed.”

Quail Run student Mike Sinks, 7, displays the car he had planned to enter in Cub Scout Pack 3072's Pinewood Derby. Saturday's race was postponed after a derby car belonging to another Cub Scout crashed in Friday's trial run and spilled mercury on the school floor. The father of the boy whose car contained the heavy metal is being blamed for loading the car with a vial of liquid mercury in an attempt to make the car faster.

About 70 Scouts made cars for the derby, Eggers said, and they and their parents shuffled in and out of the school throughout the evening before the event was suspended.

Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical personnel were called to the school to contain the mercury spill, which reportedly amounted to about an ounce, Eggers said.

Parents and Scouts who had been at the school and gone home were called and asked to bring back the shoes they had worn so they could be tested. Only one of the pairs of shoes was thought to be contaminated enough not to be returned to the owner, Eggers said.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Haz-Mat Response Inc. of Olathe cleaned the commons’ tile floor, used gauges to test the air and vacuum fans to clear out the air, said Tom Bracciano, director of operations and facility planning for Lawrence public schools.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment also had a representative at the school to monitor the cleanup.

KDHE and school officials will test the air in the school again today to make sure there is no trace of mercury. If, as expected, the building is clear, classes will be conducted Monday in the school at 1130 Inverness Drive, Bracciano said.

Gary Clapp, a chemist who has children attending Quail Run, said he was a bit concerned about the spill, but added that cleanup crews probably would do a good job.

“The only way it can be dangerous is if it is ingested through the skin or inhaled,” Clapp said.

Mercury, a silvery, dense metallic liquid commonly used in thermometers, thermostats and switches, is considered toxic to the human nervous system.

When liquid mercury is spilled, it forms droplets that can accumulate in the tiniest spaces, then emit vapors into the air.

The cost of cleaning up the mercury at the school will be about $5,000, Bracciano said. The school district will foot the bill. He said he didn’t know whether the district would try to recoup the cost.

“I don’t think it’s the (Scout) group’s fault,” Bracciano said.

Eggers said he was not aware of a similar event in the pack. The Scout whose car contained the mercury will be allowed to enter the derby when it is rescheduled.