Update: Powdery Substance At Hayward Police Station is Not Anthrax

Updated 1:15 p.m.

By Bay City News Service — A hazardous materials team has determined the white powdery substance found in an envelope at the Hayward Police Department this morning is not anthrax, a fire captain said.

Authorities evacuated the first floor of the Police Department at about 10 a.m. after a white powdery substance was detected in an envelope, fire Capt. Thor Poulsen said.

A woman clerk in her mid 30s received an envelope with no return address delivered by the U.S. Postal Service and detected a white powdery substance, Poulsen said. Some of the substance then leaked out, he said.

An Alameda County hazardous materials team arrived at the police station at 300 West Winton Ave. at about 10:15 a.m. and entered the building wearing protective clothing at 11:32 a.m., Poulsen said.

The hazmat team retrieved a sample and tested it for anthrax or any lethal substance, Poulsen said. Tests for anthrax came up negative and the substance is not a lethal dosage, he said.

The substance will continue to be tested to determine what it is, Poulsen said.

Neither the clerk nor anyone else on the first floor of the station was injured, Poulsen said. No one in the upper levels were affected, he said.

The first floor is still under evacuation until cleanup is complete, Poulsen said. Cleanup is expected to be complete by 1:30 p.m. he said.