Powder scare at Palm Beach County Courthouse

Reminiscent of the anthrax attacks of 2001 in nearby Boca Raton, two letters bearing a white powdery substance were found this afternoon at the Palm Beach County Courthouse in West Palm Beach.

The FBI said it had no immediate information on what the substance was or whether the letters contained any threats.

People had to strip off their clothes and take showers in a decontamination test set up outside, authorities said.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera said the letters were carried by a mail clerk into the law library and two judges' chambers on the building's ninth floor. She said those areas were sealed off and evacuated, but business went on elsewhere in the courthouse, including several trials.

Here we go again. If someone wanted to create a panic, this would be a good place to start, since my county was the site of the only anthrax death in the U.S. Stay tuned ...

UPDATE (2:02 am 1/12/07): The powder was "tellurium:"

More than two hours after the powder's discovery at about 11:30 a.m., fire-rescue officials identified the substance as tellurium, a poisonous alloying agent used in coloring glass and strengthening lead. If ingested it can cause abdominal disruptions, and if inhaled it can cause drowsiness, headaches, nausea and a garlic odor, according to the Web site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The substance was stuck to the outside of an envelope addressed to Circuit Judge John Hoy from a local law firm, court operations manager Rick Hussey said. Hussey saw the envelope and said the powder appeared to have been transferred from somewhere else, possibly postal equipment.

So apparently much ado about nothing.