Elgin Appellate Court Closed After White Powder Incident
ELGIN, Ill. (WBBM/CBS) -- Authorities in Elgin are waiting for test results to identify the white powdery substance that was found in an envelope sent to the Appellate Court Building on Monday.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Lisa Fielding reports, 28 people were taken to area hospitals to be examined Monday afternoon, after possibly inhaling the white powder inside the Second District Appellate Court building at 55 Symphony Way in downtown Elgin.
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Elgin city spokeswoman Sue Olafson said a clerk in the courthouse opened an incoming envelope about 11:20 a.m. that turned out to be filled with a white powder. Court officials summoned firefighters, who were treating the case as a hazardous-materials incident.
Initial testing by a hazardous materials team ruled out anthrax, ricin and botulism, but the FBI requires 72 hours to identify the substance. Thus, as a precautionary measure, the courthouse will be closed until that time.
Meanwhile, at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Olafson said the 28 people who were inside the building when the powder was discovered were being decontaminated by a series of showers. They then would be dressed in clean clothes and taken by a fleet of ambulances from several area fire departments to hospitals to be checked out "just as a precaution," she said.
None showed signs of illness, she said.
Olafson said it is unlikely the incident had any connection with the death of Osama bin Laden, since any envelope delivered by the U.S. Postal Service Monday morning must have been mailed before bin Laden's death was announced Sunday night.
The Elgin Courier-News contributed to this report, via the Sun-Times Media Wire
