Reported on WCMH4 (no copy, yet)(www.wcmh4.com)

At approximately 4 pm, a worker in a mail room at the County Commission on Aging (Long St., downtown Columbus), opened an envelope containing brown powder. The worker called the police. The three mail room workers have been taken to the hospital for decontamination and observation. The substance is being evaluated at the Ohio Health Department. Further word on the nature of the substance is expected within the next 2-4 hours. The building is now closed and the area is blocked off.

-- Anonymous, October 10, 2001

Answers

Will update when I know more.

-- Anonymous, October 10, 2001

http://www.10tv.com/news/archive/10...101001local1089

A section of downtown Columbus has been blocked off -- and several people taken to the hospital for decontamination -- after the discovery of a suspicious powder at a building Wednesday afternoon.

The Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging, 174 E. Long St., has been evacuated as a precaution, and the area surrounding the building is closed off.

Sgt. Earl Smith of the Columbus Police Department tells 10TV that a business-sized envelope contained the powder. Investigators say there seemed to be Arabic writing on the envelope. The letter is said to have been sent through the mail by a doctor here in Ohio.

10TV has learned between 10 and 15 people, including firefighters, are being taken to Grant Medical Center for decontamination. Three mailroom workers were taken to Grant for further examination; doctors say all of them appear to be doing fine. Samples from the powder will be tested to determine exactly what the substance is.

This comes one day after a suspicious powder was found at the IRS processing center in Covington, Kent., just across the border from Cincinnati. The person who discovered that substance was taken to the hospital to be decontaminated, and several others were taken in for observation. Preliminary tests were negative

-- Anonymous, October 10, 2001

link

-- Anonymous, October 10, 2001

10:14 pm edt. Still no update. I'm watching for the report from the health department. No news update. Nothing on FOX. Will update tomorrow if Mutter or someone doesn't beat me to it.

-- Anonymous, October 10, 2001

Meemer, are you anywhere close to this place??? I sure hope you are clear across on the other side!!!! 11:15pm

-- Anonymous, October 10, 2001

Downtown scare: No anthrax in powder from letter

Thursday, October 11, 2001

Dean Narciso and Jill Riepenhoff Dispatch Police Reporters

Two months ago, a letter spilling powder likely would have annoyed workers more than terrified them.

But this week, after terrorist attacks and reports of anthrax, suspicious letters and packages have wreaked havoc in office buildings across the country.

Yesterday, Columbus became the latest victim.

A suspicious letter delivered to the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging, 174 E. Long St., forced three employees to undergo decontamination before they were sent to the hospital.

The scare closed streets around the building and snarled Downtown rush-hour traffic for hours. Two office buildings were evacuated.

When the workers from the agency were sent home, it was with instructions not to touch their loved ones -- not even their pets -- until authorities learn if the substance was dangerous.

As of late last night, health officials had ruled out anthrax because no spores were found, Fire Battalion Chief Doug Smith said.

However, more testing is need to identify the substance, Smith said. "It's probably not a biological threat, but we don't know what it is.''

In this era of a new, targeted America, police and rescue workers say they have no choice but to respond en masse.

"It's a very confusing time,'' Columbus Police Sgt. Earl Smith said. "We just don't know how much concern is appropriate. The risks were always with us. The difference is that our naivete has been taken away, and that's tough for everyone.''

Since the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, Americans' nervousness has grown with the vow of retaliation from Muslim extremist Osama bin Laden for U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan and the discovery of anthrax in a Florida newspaper office.

The discovery of suspicious- looking packages and envelopes leaking powdery substances prompted evacuations of office buildings in Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Covington, Ky., this week.

Nothing hazardous was found.

"Right now the fear is worse than the reality,'' Earl Smith said. "It's set everyone psychologically running.''

Fears were heightened by the discovery of anthrax in the offices of The Sun tabloid newspaper in Florida. One of its photographers has died from inhaling it. Federal officials haven't determined how anthrax made its way into the building.

Thoughts of Florida lingered in Columbus yesterday, after an employee at the agency pulled a rubber band from a bundle of mail and a brown grainy substance spilled from a letter.

Cindy Farson, the executive director, was called to the mailroom on the sixth floor of the building at about 2:30 p.m.

"To be safe, we decided to call the Columbus Health Department,'' Farson said. "And they told us to call the police.''

Police and firefighters arrived in droves.

"I don't think we can ever not respond to something like this,'' Fire Capt. Steve Saltsman said. "Obviously, times are changing because of what has happened in this country and around the world.''

Farson described a "very unusual brown powdery substance folded into the letter.''

Three women who had contact with the envelope were scrubbed with a decontaminant by female firefighters and taken to Grant Medical Center, where the procedure was repeated.

The women were evaluated by doctors and released, a nursing supervisor said. Results for contamination won't be available for at least 24 hours, officials said.

The envelope and its contents were taken to an Ohio Department of Health laboratory, Saltsman said.

Fifteen workers and seven firefighters who didn't touch the envelope but could have been exposed were told to go home, take a shower and not come into contact with others until notified by the health department that everything was OK, Doug Smith said.

And for the future? Officials warned people to be careful about packages that appear suspicious.

"When people think that something appears strange, it's better not to open it at all and let us deal with it,'' Saltsman said. "That's part of our training. We have all the proper protection and training.''

-- Anonymous, October 11, 2001

Link = www.dispatch.com

link

-- Anonymous, October 11, 2001