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Monday, June 20, 2005

Tucumcari Post Office Evacuated After Powder Found


Associated Press
      TUCUMCARI — Employees at the main post office in Tucumcari were evacuated Monday before the office opened for business after a worker spotted a white powder from two envelopes.
    A hazardous materials team that was called in determined the substance was not hazardous, said Lisa Guevara, U.S. postal inspector in Albuquerque. However, a lab will still have to determine exactly what the powder was and that could take a while, she said.
    The powder was spotted about 8 a.m., and the post office was allowed to open about 2:30 p.m., Guevara said.
    She could not say how many people were at work when the post office was evacuated.
    The envelopes came from a Tucumcari collection box, Guevara said. She said she did not know who they were addressed to or what the return address might have been.