Posted on 02/10/2004 3:31:52 PM PST by nuconvert
Suspicious White Powder Found at Williamstown, N.J., Post Office
The Associated Press
Published: Feb 10, 2004
MONROE TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) - The Williamstown Post Office was evacuated as a precaution Tuesday after several postal carriers found a white powder in their mail, officials said. Members of the Gloucester County hazardous materials squad were sent into the building, said Cathy Yarosky, spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Service.
FBI agents joined the investigation, said FBI spokeswoman Linda Vizi.
"We're taking samples and will make a determination as to what the substance is," Vizi said.
Six postal workers were taken to a hospital for evaluation after they complained of feeling ill, Yarosky said. They were all expected to be treated and released, officials said.
Last week, a powder determined to be the poison ricin was found in a Senate office building in Washington, D.C. Officials have said they don't know if the ricin was mailed to the building.
The Williamstown Post Office is about 20 miles southeast of Philadelphia.
The mail processing facility in Hamilton, roughly 35 miles to the north, was shut down in October 2001 after letters containing anthrax passed through the building. Officials announced this week that the facility had been decontaminated. Contact with letters containing anthrax in 2001 killed five people and sickened 17 others nationwide.
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