The white powder found on several

packages that caused the evacuation of Peachtree City's Post Office Monday

morning was likely laundry detergent or another innocuous substance, according

to postal officials.

The powder came from a "care

package" that was being sent to a college student in Alabama, said

U.S. Postal Inspector Joel Mendelsohn.

This wasn't known right away,

however, and the county's hazardous materials team was called in to decontaminate

two postal employees who had been directly exposed to it. The two postal

workers were taken to Fayette Community Hospital for treatment.

Tests on the powder were due

back Tuesday afternoon from a lab in Decatur, but the results were not

available at press time.

The contaminated area was limited

to the post office and none of the powder was released outdoors, said

Capt. Pete Nelms of the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency

Services.

The post office, which closed

when the building was evacuated around 9 a.m., was open again by 1 p.m.,

Mendelsohn said.

Mendelsohn said there has only

been one confirmed instance of the mail being used as a vehicle to carry

anthrax, a chemical recognized as a biological weapon. Postal employees

are being vigilant for anything out of the ordinary just to be on the

safe side, he added.

Approximately 35 people, mostly

post office employees, were not exposed to the powder but were treated

on scene by emergency personnel as a precaution.

The incident was first reported

around 9 a.m., Nelms said.

Nelms said the exercise was

worthwhile since it showed the emergency community is ready to respond

to such calls.

"We have to take every

threat seriously," Nelms said, adding that the incident was handled

properly by emergency personnel.

"Our job is to safeguard

the public, and we did that," Nelms said.

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