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On Friday, 3/14/08, OSC Crowley responded to the 21st floor of the Atlanta Federal Center (AFC) to a report of a suspicious package containing what appeared to be a sand like material. The package was discovered in the 21st floor mail room which is part of the Social Security Administration (SSA).
Upon arriving to the 21st floor, the OSC met up with SSA, Federal Protective Service (FPS) and General Services Administration (GSA). All postal workers who came in contact with the package were quarantined (at the request of Atlanta Fire Department (AFD)) to a far corner of the floor. The 20st, 21st and 22nd floor were evacuated. The OSC coordinated with the responding parties and told them of EPA's role and responsibilities.
When the OSC asked where the package was located, he was told that the bottle containing the sand was in the mail room (behind closed doors) and the box that the bottle was sent in was pulled out in the hallway, approximately 10 feet from where everyone was standing.
Once AFD hazmat arrived, everyone (including SSA, FPS, and the OSC) was quarantined to the loading dock area of AFC. Atlanta hazmat conducted an entry and determined that the bottle was a wedding invitation (sand and seashells with a rolled up initiation inside). Everyone was then cleared. The OSC then coordinated with GSA and FPS to determine who removed the box from the mail room. The OSC also spoke with the Fire Chief for the response to let him know we were involved and that if they need any assistance from us in the future to let us know.
No Removal Activities are planned for this Site.
The OSC will review the response plan for AFC incidents with GSA, FPS and building security.
The main issue was knowledge. The first responders did not know to leave the package alone and potentially exposed more people than need be by bringing the package out into a hallway.
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