Suspicious powder causes evacuation at postal facility

A Tacoma, Wash., mail distribution facility was evacuated Tuesday after a suspicious white powder was found inside, according to reports. The powder was later determined to be nontoxic.

The powder was found early in the morning on a table where mail is processed, Tacoma Fire Capt. Jolene Davis told the Associated Press. The powder was found in two letters-one addressed to the State Department and one addressed to the local police department, said Postal Service spokesman Gerry McKiernan.

Preliminary tests conducted on the powder came back positive for botulism and plague, CNN reported. Further testing, however, determined that the powder was nontoxic, Homeland Security Department officials said.

Four workers near the table where the powder was found were decontaminated as a precaution, but no injuries have been reported and none of the four workers have displayed any symptoms of illness. Ninety-three people were evacuated from the building.

A Washington National Guard civil support team was conducting an exercise at a hospital across the street from the mail distribution facility when the building was evacuated, according to CNN.

The Tacoma facility is one of 14 postal facilities throughout the United States that have been chosen to test new biological detection equipment, according to CNN. A postal official said he was "pretty sure," however, that the new equipment had not been installed yet.