'It was not anthrax'
Jun 16, 2008 - 11:43 PM
By Kristen Calis
PICKERING -- A suspicious substance found in an envelope sent to the City of Pickering containing three parking tickets is not dangerous, says Chief Administrator Tom Quinn.
“It was not anthrax,” he said about nine hours after City Hall was cleared. “We do not know what it is at this time. It was not dangerous, we do know that.” The powder will remain at the Ministry of Health lab in Toronto for 36 hours for further testing. The MOH deemed it not dangerous late Monday night.
City Hall was cleared out at about 1:30 p.m. after two employees in the clerks department were opening parking ticket mail with an automatic mail opening machine. They noticed a white, powdery substance in one of the envelopes and deputy clerk Debbie Shields immediately resealed the envelope, Mr. Quinn said.
“I made the decision to basically close down City Hall for everybody’s safety - ours and the public,” he said. The regularly scheduled council meeting was cancelled as the public was not allowed into the building.
The two clerks and Ms. Shields remained in quarantine the entire time. Although “a big chunk” of staff was sent home, department heads had to remain at the scene as per Pickering’s emergency management procedure protocol. The majority of staff spent the time in the library.
Once the tickets are returned to the City later this week, Durham Regional Police will look into the case.
“I think it was someone who was deliberately trying to do something to cause as much havoc as possible,” he said. “If we do find them, we’ll also take them to civil court on something like this. I will try to do everything that I can to regain the money that was lost today.”
Direct and indirect costs could be anywhere from $20,000 to $25,000 Mr. Quinn said.
The council meeting supposed to take place Monday will be rescheduled as soon as possible.
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