Almost 100 people were evacuated from a mail sorting center on Tuesday after white powder was found on about a dozen envelopes but officials later said tests on the substance found no biotoxins. Initial tests done at the postal facility in Tacoma by the local Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials Team were positive for biotoxins but subsequent analysis by the Washington National Guard’s Homeland Security Team was negative. “The more comprehensive tests came back negative,” Homeland Security Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said in Washington D.C. “We’ve verified that this is not related to bioterrorism.” The evacuation was part of new security procedures put in place after the still-unsolved anthrax mailings that killed five people and alarmed America following the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide hijacking attacks. In a another incident in Fort Myers, Florida, six people were taken to hospital after a white powdery substance was found in a cargo building at Southwest Florida International Airport but that appeared to be a false alarm too. Full Story
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