I say “UNTHINKABLE”, you say "UNTHINKABEL", let's call the whole thing off.
<< Did you not post something earlier alluding to being TGS? >>
I did not post any such thing, and I am not TGS. Neither Theodore G Shackley nor The Great Satan. Whichever you mean.
<< What’s in a name? Everybody has one. Some have several. >>
I have one real name and one screen name. However, people who live in row houses of glass should speak no evil.
<< Anyway, Happy Anniversary and Bon Voyage:) >>
I did not realise at 1st what you meant by Happy Anniversary. I looked at the date on your post- it read << 09/19/2004 12:02:04 AM EDT >>. The date 19 September meant nothing to me.
Then it struck me- You're in Calif, where the date was still yesterday, 18 September. Time zone difference. All day yesterday was 18 September and the date hadn't occurred to me.
BTW, in New J it would already have been 19 September. Didn't you set your clock to Eastern Time? Consistency, my man, consistency.
Quote of the Week:)
“Anytime you have something being mailed to someone with powder in it, it raises suspicion,” Pasquale said.
White powder causes scare at P. O.
by Donald Fink and Yasmin Hahn
EAGLE NEST — It isn’t cocaine, methamphetamine, anthrax, botulism or ricin (a poison that can be in the form of powder, mist or pellet). What the white, powdery substance found leaking from an envelope at Eagle Nest Post Office Wednesday, Sept. 8, actually is remains a mystery.
According to Margaret Romero, manager of marketing for the United States Post Office, last Wednesday afternoon Eagle Nest Postmaster Tese Quintana was collecting mail dropped through the slot and into the collection box.
When she was done, Quintana noticed fine white powder on her hands.
Romero said, “The postal service has a standard protocol we follow anytime we suspect a chemical or biological substance. Tese followed that protocol to the letter.”
Quintana identified where the powder was leaking from — a thin white envelope.
According to Raton Fire Chief David Pasquale, who responded to the scene with his hazardous materials team (HazMat) Thursday, the envelope was like a “greeting card” envelope and thin enough to hold up to the light and see the only thing it contained was the powder.
Quintana placed the letter in a plastic bag and put it in a segregated part of the post office, away from other mail.
She then notified the Postal Service Inspection Service, the law enforcement branch of the post office. Quintana also called the Angel Fire Police Department and her operational manager.
The Postal Service Inspection Service, out of Albuquerque, assigned inspector Diana Clevenger to Eagle Nest. Clevenger, who arrived in Eagle Nest Wednesday evening, advised Quintana to close the post office and go home.
Thursday morning Clevenger tested the powder to see if it was cocaine or methamphetamine. Both tests came up negative. The inspector then called the Raton Fire Department, a New Mexico HazMat regional response team, at about 11: 30 a.m.
First on scene Thursday morning, Chief Orlando Sandoval of Angel Fire Fire Department set up Incident Command and established a “Hot Zone” perimeter to keep everyone away and safe. Quintana and Clevenger were evacuated to a cordoned off area near the Eagle Nest Corner Market.
Angel Fire, Eagle Nest, and Colfax County District 6 Fire Departments offered backup and assistance. Raton HazMat showed up at about 1 p.m.
Pasquale said his team tests for “three primary biologicals — ricin, anthrax and botulism. All three came back negative.”
The Raton HazMat has already ordered a $70,000 piece of equipment, paid for with Homeland Security grants, that is able to determine what substances are but the equipment has not yet arrived.
“Since 9/11 and Homeland Security, all the orders are really backed up. We expect the machine to come in in a month or so,” Pasquale said.
Without that machine, Raton HazMat could only determine the powder is, “an unknown acidic substance that could have been potentially harmful to an individual.”
The letter was addressed to a woman in Hawaii. The postal inspector called the United States Postal Service in Hawaii and was told the woman had received letters containing similarly suspicious material in the past.
Pasquale said the envelope’s return address was “weird. The writing was bad. It looked like it had been written left-handed to make it hard to trace.”
He added, “Our HazMat is trained in evidence recovery. We keep a chain of custody of the material so there is a record of where the material is at all times.”
That could be important in a court case if inspectors eventually determine the powder is an illegal substance.
For now, the powder will remain with the postal inspector’s office in Albuquerque, which will handle any follow-up investigation.
Because the powder was not one of the primary three dangerous substances HazMat routinely tests for, Pasquale said, “It probably will not be high on the priority list.”
Pasquale said about 8 months ago, his unit was called out to the Springer Post Office to test a similar white substance found on some envelopes. In that instance, the substance turned out to be powdered milk. “We think something (a package) broke in transit and spilled in a mail bag.”
Pasquale said what makes the Eagle Nest incident more suspicious is that the envelope contained only the powder.
“Anytime you have something being mailed to someone with powder in it, it raises suspicion,” Pasquale said.
In terms of local response, Pasquale said, “It was perfect timing.” The Eagle Nest incident happened less than 2 weeks after members of all three local fire departments attended an operations level hazardous materials class in Angel Fire, taught by Chief Pasquale.
“The plan came together perfectly,” Pasquale said. Sandoval agreed, saying, “Everyone did exactly what they were trained to do.” Raton HazMat completed their tests, determining there was no danger from the powder, at about 4 p.m.
The envelope and powder will remain with the Postal Service Inspection Service pending future investigation."
I do so love small town reporting, chuck full of details one seldom sees in the mass market press.
And, on a more personal note, "People who live in gas houses shouldn't strike at unknowns"