A harmless blue powder released from a package in an Elk Grove Village freight facility used by the United States Postal Service, which turned workers’ skin blue and generated a hazardous materials response on June 4, was discarded and not tested.
Elk Grove Village firefighters responded to the forwarding facility at 1717 Busse Rd. on Wednesday, June 4, believing the powder could be a hazardous materials situation based on information from 911 operators. They handed the scene off to postal service hazmat crews once the blue powder was deemed not harmful or hazardous by responding firefighters.
Spencer Block, a U.S. Postal Inspection Service public information officer with the Chicago Division Headquarters, said mail inspectors used diagnostic equipment to determine the powder in question was indeed innocuous and instructed workers to clean up and dispose of the spilled powder.
After the incident, Elk Grove Deputy Police Chief Scott Eisenmenger said there were no injuries and no one was hospitalized.
Block said that because the powder was found not to be toxic first by firefighters and then by mail inspectors, the material was not sent to a postal service laboratory for further testing to determine exactly what it was. He said at the time, there was also no specific threat made by or against any specific person or entity in the area.
Workers were handling the package in the postal service area within CEVA Logistics at 1717 Busse when it somehow opened, releasing the blue powder. The facility was evacuated for about 15 minutes before firefighters determined that the powder was not harmful, and workers were allowed back in, according to Elk Grove fire officials.
Block said that because materials may have been intermingled with other non-postal service items before the package opened, and because the blue powder was not sent to a lab for testing as it was determined to be non-toxic, his office could not identify what the substance was.
The Journal was unable to reach Elk Grove Fire Chief Richard Mikel this week, who detailed events surrounding the powder spill after it happened in June.
