Finally, the Puget Sound Area is getting the world-class terrorism we deserve. With three professional sports teams and a beloved landmark like the Space Needle, it's about fucking time!

My favorite part of the article: "Officials were also looking at a second envelope found near the first one, though it was unknown whether it contained powder." Do they have a team of monkeys working around the clock on this?

Suspect powder found at a Tacoma mail distribution facility

By Ray Rivera
Seattle Times staff reporter

About 100 people were evacuated and four sent to a hospital after suspicious powder was found in an envelope at a Tacoma postal facility. Preliminary tests indicated the powder might contain plague or botulism, a Tacoma police official said.

An Army National Guard unit specializing in chemical and biological hazards was called in to conduct more sophisticated tests.

Officials cautioned that preliminary tests often return false results.

Police Sgt. Jerry Lerum said the powder was discovered around 12:45 a.m. after the envelope it was in was damaged in a mail sorter. The envelope was addressed to the Sequim Police Department in Clallam County. There was no return address. At least one field test by a local hazardous material unit returned positive readings for plague and botulism, Lerum said.

Tacoma Fire Capt. Jolene Davis said four of five tests were negative.

Officials were also looking at a second envelope found near the first one, though it was unknown whether it contained powder. That envelope was addressed to the U.S. State Department, said an official with U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell's office.

Police and fire officials cordoned off the building at 4001 S. Pine St. The FBI was on the scene investigating.

Tacoma Fire Capt. Terry Dawson said four people were decontaminated and taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tacoma as a precautionary measure, though no one showed signs of being ill.

The other employees were allowed to go home. Many, however, were still on the scene in buses awaiting for the building to be reopened to pickup car keys and other personal belongings, said Mark Fulghum of the Tacoma Police Dept.

The National Guard’s 10th Civil Support Team was called in from nearby Camp Murray about 4:15 a.m. The unit consists of 22 members and has equipment that can identify hundreds of chemical, biological and nuclear hazards, said Maj. Gen. Timothy Lowenburg, commander of the Washington National Guard and the state’s top homeland security official.

The unit has been called in to investigate at least 100 such incidents since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Lowenberg said. No biotoxins were found in any of the previous incidents.

Once on-site testing is completed, the powder will be sent to the state toxicology lab for additional tests, Lerum said.

Sequim Police Chief Ken Burge said he had not been contacted about the envelope and could not confirm that it was addressed to his police department.

"That's not surprising, I'm sure they've got their hands full down there," Burge said.

Burge, who has only been in Sequim since October, said he couldn't think of anyone who might want to harm the department.

"Of course I don't know all the ins and outs of the community yet," he said.