http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/crime/nyc-post0204,0,1237113.story?coll=nyc-manheadlines-crime Powdery Envelopes Prompt Postal Scares
By Lindsay Faber and Pete Bowles
Staff Writers
February 3, 2004, 11:16 PM EST
Three envelopes containing white powder that turned out to be harmless were discovered yesterday at three U.S. Postal facilities in New York — one in Brooklyn and two in Manhattan — authorities said.
The substances were found by employees at the Rugby Post Office at 726 Utica Ave. in Brooklyn, the Morgan Processing and Distribution Center on Ninth Avenue near 30th Street in Manhattan and the historic Farley Post Office building on Eighth Avenue between 31st and 33rd streets.
Chemical tests conducted by the New York Police Department and the Department of Environmental Protection determined that the powder found in Brooklyn was coffee creamer, the Morgan center's was Sheetrock dust and the Farley building's appeared to be a "simple household product," said Tom Boyle, a postal inspector.
The Brooklyn plant, in East Flatbush, was evacuated about 9 a.m. after an employee said she had been exposed to a white powder, Boyle said.
The Manhattan buildings, where powdery substances were found about 5:30 p.m., were not evacuated because the powder was contained in small rooms with only a few employees, Boyle said.
About six workers in the two buildings came in contact with the substances and were quarantined, evaluated and interviewed before being released about 6:30 p.m., Boyle said.
Boyle said strange substances are often found at postal facilities but are usually quickly identified by telephone calls to mailers.
"In these cases we were not able to do that," he said. "Clearly we are more on alert because of what's going on in Washington and Connecticut."
"The public should have absolutely no concern," Boyle said of the three incidents