Emergency personnel head into the Violations Bureau building in Lewiston on Monday to retrieve a suspicious powder. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)
LEWISTON — Police have determined that white powder found in an envelope sent to the state Violations Bureau isn’t dangerous, but they will continue to investigate who sent it and why.
Emergency personnel wear hazmat suits before decontamination procedures begin Monday morning at the Violations Bureau in Lewiston. They are investigating reports of an unknown white powder found at the site. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)
The discovery Monday morning prompted the evacuation of the 85 Park St. building just before 9 a.m. All of the employees had to be decontaminated and seven were taken to the hospital as a precaution, Lt. David St. Pierre said.
“We have determined that (it was) an inert, nonhazardous substance, which we are yet to identify,” he said. “There is still an ongoing investigation as to why it was in the envelope, why it was sent there.”
The Violations Bureau receives all of the mail statewide for people paying civil and traffic fines. About 20 people work there.
Emergency personnel wear hazmat suits before decontamination procedures begin Monday morning at the Violations Bureau in Lewiston. They are investigating reports of an unknown white powder found at the site. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)
“(Monday morning) when the person opened the envelope, a bunch of white, powdery substance came out,” Lt. Michael McGonagle said.
St. Pierre said the “suspicious white powder” call came in at 8:43 a.m.
As the Androscoggin regional hazmat team combed the office, bureau employees spent the morning in ambulances.
Two workers at the Violations Bureau in Lewiston answer questions while hazmat teams investigate a white powder found in an envelope Monday morning. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)
Five were directly exposed to the powder, according to Mary Ann Lynch, spokeswoman for the Maine Judicial Branch.
“We’re giving them some additional health care right now,” she said in the early afternoon. “No one has experienced any symptoms for anything, so it’s probably harmless, but we’re taking every precaution.”
Lynch said the bureau receives hundreds of pieces of mail each week. Staff there also answer routine phone calls for courthouses across the state.
Police and fire officials outside 85 Park St. in Lewiston on Monday morning investigate a report of suspicious, white powder found in an envelope.
She declined to comment on whether the employee was opening a ticket or a fine payment when the powder came out.
In a press release sent late in the day, St. Pierre added that the U.S. Postal Inspector was also investigating, but police “do not anticipate anyone being charged criminally.”
kskelton@sunjournal.com
This story will be updated.
Lewiston police and fire officials have set up hazmat operations Monday morning outside the Violations Bureau on Park Street. They are investigating reports of a white powder found in an envelope.
What appears to be a decontamination tent has been set up on Park Street in Lewiston in front of the state Violations Bureau as police and fire officials investigate a report of a suspicious white powder found in the mail.
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