One thing that strikes me from the news channel 5 article:
http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=6927100&nav=menu374_2
“The department will be closed for at least the next day as the investigation continues.”
My Comment: Doesn’t that seem rather longer than we usually see as an estimate in an unknown hazmat report? I seem to recall that they usually say something like “several hours” or such. Knowing this early in an investigation that you will have to close a POLICE STATION for “at least the next day” seems to me to be rather telling.
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Piper said it was some type of foreign substance...”
That could be why it is taking longer.