Workers decontaminated, FBI called after substance sent to Boardman office

BOARDMAN

Local law enforcement officials are awaiting the results of a lab test to determine what substance was in an envelope sent to a business by a former employee Wednesday.

Employees of American Business Center, 7677 South Ave., called police at about 1:15 p.m. after opening the envelope to find a letter with a suspicious powder.

“They opened the letter and there was a white powdery substance in the letter,” fire Chief Mark Pitzer said.

Firefighters isolated the area and the 11 people in the building, he said.

Responders included police officers, a hazardous materials team and agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cleveland department.

Two out of the 11 employees were exposed to the letter. Those two were quarantined for several hours in the office where they originally opened the letter and then were decontaminated by a Haz-Mat team.

The pair were put in Haz-Mat suits after the other employees were evacuated and then were taken to St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital.

Evacuating the other nine people took a few hours, as they were slowly brought out two at a time and evaluated by emergency medical service workers.

Read more about the incident in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.